Employees at Associated Milk Producers Inc.'s (AMPI) Sanborn, Iowa, plant might be seeing double, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with their vision. Instead, it’s a reflection of a recent expansion that doubled the facility's cheesemaking capacity.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

You won’t find any fancy feeder hoppers or blenders in Praline’s Inc.’s Wallingford, Conn., ice cream processing, distribution and headquarters facility. The company believes that the old-fashioned methods still yield the best-tasting ice cream. So plant employees start with a high-quality base, then mix in the variegates and inclusions by hand.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

In August of 2015 — more than a year after it started to make bottles and receive milk — Lifeway Foods celebrated the Waukesha plant’s official revival. The facility finally had begun the production of kefir. Today, the plant boasts more than 50 employees working days and shifts that vary by department. Kefir production — flavored and unflavored — runs five days a week. All kefir is packaged in the 32-ounce bottles the facility makes on-site.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

You won’t find any fancy-looking equipment at the creamery operated by Phoenix-based Danzeisen Dairy LLC. Tucked into a mixture of farm, industrial and residential properties in Phoenix’s Laveen neighborhood, the creamery relies on retrofitted vintage milk processing equipment — much of it from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and all of it from U.S. manufacturers — to produce its craft dairy products.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

The 50,000-square-foot chalet-style creamery was constructed in the 1950s and remodeled in 1991 for Roth. In 2006, it underwent a $4 million expansion to enlarge its brine system and add a modern culinary center. Giving the facility an extra dose of Swiss-inspired charm is the attached Alp and Dell store, which sells Emmi Roth cheeses (along with other products), but is operated independently.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

Cedar Crest Ice Cream makes an impressive amount of ice cream in its 45,408-square-foot facility in Manitowoc, Wis. The plant currently produces approximately 26 million pounds of product annually. The company uses the space wisely and continues to upgrade equipment and technology as product demand increases.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

The plant produces a range of organic dairy selections in a variety of sizes, including eight milk and cream products; 11 flavors of ice cream; seven European-style yogurt products; four Greek yogurt products; two butter products and one sour cream product. Selections for specialty and wholesale markets, the company said, include milk and cream, Barista milk, whipping cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream, soft serve ice cream mix and ice cream base.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!

The future looks bright for probiotics, prebiotics and stevia, but a bit darker for sugar.

View as fullpage PDF

Visit the Dairy Stats & Facts page

$546.8 billion

That’s the number the global market for dairy products is projected to reach by 2022. Growth will be driven by the rising importance of milk products in a balanced diet and nutrition, a growing body of scientific evidence validating the beneficial use of low-fat dairy products in controlling hypertension, and robust ingredient and flavor innovations for dairy products.

Source: Global Industry Analysts Inc., “Dairy Products — Global Strategic Business Report,” 2017.

View as fullpage PDF

Visit the Dairy Stats & Facts page

All of Ben & Jerry's decisions are guided by its three-part mission statement: to make the best products, to be financially successful and to stand up for social causes. From start to finish, these principles also drive the operations and the floor workers at the company’s ice cream factory in St. Albans, Vt.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!