:Dean Foods

Dean Foods was founded by Samuel E. Dean Sr., who owned an evaporated milk processing facility in Franklin Park, Illinois, in the 1920s.{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=DF.N&rpc=66 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304224517/http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=DF.N&rpc=66 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |title=Dean Foods Co (DF.N) Company Profile |work=Reuters.com |access-date=October 20, 2013}} After purchasing other Illinois dairy plants Dean developed the enterprise "from a small regional dairy into a diversified food company".{{cite web |url=http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/about-us/brief-history.aspx |title=Brief History |publisher=Dean Foods |access-date=October 20, 2013 |archive-date=October 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021113853/http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/about-us/brief-history.aspx |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deanfoods-results-idUSBRE9770L520130808 |title=Dean Foods to close milk factories as earnings sour |author=Aditi Shrivastava |work=Reuters |date=August 8, 2013 |access-date=October 2, 2013}}

In December 2001, the legacy brand of Dean Foods was acquired by the Dallas-based Suiza Foods Corporation, who later adopted the Dean Foods name.{{cite web |url=http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/88/881/88165/items/288898/Fiscal2007AnnualReportWrapFINAL.PDF |title=Dean Foods Annual Report |publisher=Library.corporate-ir.net |access-date=October 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219093353/http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/88/881/88165/items/288898/Fiscal2007AnnualReportWrapFINAL.PDF |archive-date=February 19, 2012 |url-status=dead}} As part of the merger, 11 plants were divested under the name National Dairy to a group led by Dairy Farmers of America.{{Cite web |title=Dean Foods - Suiza Foods and Dean Foods Complete Merger |access-date=July 22, 2018 |url=http://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/news/suiza-foods-and-dean-foods-complete-merger/ |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722125544/http://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/news/suiza-foods-and-dean-foods-complete-merger/ |url-status=dead}} In the first quarter of 2010 the company moved to the Cityplace district of Dallas, Texas.Hethcock, Bill. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/06/08/daily14.html Dean Foods to relocate corporate office]." Dallas Business Journal. Monday June 8, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2009.{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Wilonsky |author-link=Robert Wilonsky |series=Unfair Park |work=Dallas Observer |title=So Dean Foods Is Eliminating the 'Schepps' Name in Dallas. Well, That Doesn't Seem Right. |url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/10/so_dean_foods_is_eliminating_t.php |date=October 13, 2010 |access-date=October 14, 2010 |archive-date=October 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016001432/http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/10/so_dean_foods_is_eliminating_t.php |url-status=dead}}

In November 2019, Southern Foods Group, LLC d/b/a Dean Foods, and forty-two affiliated companies filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas on November 12, 2019. The company cited the decline in consumption of cow's milk products;{{Cite web |date=November 13, 2019 |title=Friendly's ice cream parent owner files for bankruptcy |url=https://www.wcvb.com/article/friendlys-ice-cream-parent-owner-files-for-bankruptcy/29775489 |access-date=November 13, 2019 |publisher=WCVB |language=en |quote='Despite our best efforts to make our business more agile and cost-efficient, we continue to be impacted by a challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption,' said Eric Beringause, who recently joined Dean Foods as president and chief executive officer.}}{{Cite web |author=Jordan Valinsky |title=America's largest milk producer files for bankruptcy |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/business/dean-foods-bankruptcy/index.html |access-date=December 28, 2019 |publisher=CNN |date=November 12, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Chapman |first1=Michelle |last2=Durbin |first2=Dee-Ann |date=November 13, 2019 |title=No. 1 milk company declares bankruptcy amid drop in demand |publisher=Yahoo |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-impeachment-hearings-what-to-expect-194144848.html |access-date=November 13, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Semuels |first1=Alana |date=January 9, 2020 |title=Milk Has Long Been a Staple of American Life. But Now, the Dairy Industry Is in Trouble |work=Time |url=https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/milk-long-staple-american-life-110240608.html}} rendering them unable to meet their debt and pension obligations. The company stated that they were working with potential buyers for the company's assets.{{cite press release |title=Dean Foods Restructuring Information |url=https://deanfoodsrestructuring.com/ |access-date=November 12, 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Chapman |first1=Michelle |date=November 12, 2019 |title=Business No. 1 milk company declares bankruptcy amid drop in demand |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dean-foods-seeks-bankruptcy-protection-123159130.html |access-date=November 12, 2019 |via=Yahoo}}{{cite news |last1=Mulvany |first1=Lydia |last2=Doherty |first2=Katherine |date=November 12, 2019 |title=Dean Foods Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganization |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-12/dean-foods-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-reorganization-k2vtfqk6 |access-date=November 12, 2019}}{{cite news |date=November 12, 2019 |title=Dean Foods files for Chapter 11 |agency=Reuters |url=https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dean-foods-files-chapter-11-133552920.html |access-date=November 12, 2019}} The cooperative Dairy Farmers of America was specifically named as a potential buyer. In 2020, all of Dean's assets were acquired by several companies. The largest share of assets was purchased by Dairy Farmers of America for $425 million.{{Cite web |date=May 2, 2020 |title=Dean Foods Completes Sale of Assets to Dairy Farmers of America |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200501005548/en/Dean-Foods-Completes-Sale-Assets-Dairy-Farmers |website=businesswire.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Lucas |first=Amelia |date=February 17, 2020 |title=Dairy Farmers of America agrees to buy Dean Foods, America's biggest milk producer, for $425 million |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/17/dairy-farmers-of-america-agrees-to-buy-dean-foods-americas-biggest-milk-producer-for-425-million.html |access-date=March 28, 2022 |publisher=CNBC |language=en}}

File:OakFarmsOfficesHouston.JPG]]

File:OakFarmsFactoryHouston1.JPG

{{when|date=July 2022}}

• DairyPure

• Killer Shake – a subsidiary of Killer Productions Company (now defunct) is a former brand of chocolate milk with a dessert-like style. Dean Foods manufactured and sold this product under a license arrangement for the period January 1, 1996, through September 30, 1996.{{cite news |url=http://www.secinfo.com/dVut2.81P1.htm#127thPage |title=SEC Info Dean Foods |publisher=SEC Info |access-date=March 5, 2007}}
• Uncle Matt's Organic{{cite news |title=Dean Foods Co. acquires Uncle Matt's Organic |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-dean-foods-co-acquires-uncle-matts-idUSFWN1JJ0MJ |work=Reuters |date=June 22, 2017 |access-date=August 10, 2017}}

{{when|date=July 2022}}

• Alta Dena, Southern California, Arizona
• Brown's Dairy, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida
• Country Fresh, Michigan and Wisconsin
• Creamland, New Mexico
• Dean's, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania
• Friendly's, an ice cream brand served at Friendly's restaurants and sold in stores{{cite news |title=Friendly's looks to grow, open restaurants, following sale of ice cream plant |first1=Jim |last1=Kinney |url=http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2016/09/friendlys_looks_to_grow_after_oputting_b.html |work=Masslive.com |date=September 5, 2016 |access-date=August 10, 2017}}
• Gandy's, West Texas
• Garelick Farms, New England
• Hygeia Dairy, South Texas
• Jilbert Dairy, Michigan's Upper Peninsula
• Lehigh Valley, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
• Mayfield Dairy, Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee
• Meadow Gold Dairy, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Southern Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming
• Oak Farms Dairy, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma
• PET Dairy, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia
• Price's Creameries, El Paso, Texas and Southern New Mexico
• Purity Dairies, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama
• ReadyLeaf Tea
• Reiter Dairy, Ohio
• Swiss Premium, Pennsylvania
• T. G. Lee Dairy, Florida
• Tuscan Dairy Farms, New York and New Jersey

In May 2015 Dean Foods announced that they would introduce a national milk brand, DairyPure, which would appear alongside regional brands, in an attempt to boost sales.[https://fortune.com/2015/05/04/dean-foods-national-milk/ Dean Foods hopes for milk rebound with DairyPure] Fortune, May 4, 2015

File:Berkeley Farms logo.jpg

• Barber's, Alabama, parts of Mississippi, Georgia and Florida
• Berkeley Farms, Northern California and Northern Nevada: 1910–2020
• Broughton Foods, Southeast Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, Western Virginia and West Virginia.{{cite web |agency=Reuters |title=COMPANY NEWS; SUIZA AGREES TO THE PURCHASE OF BROUGHTON FOODS |website=The New York Times |date=September 12, 1998 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/12/business/company-news-suiza-agrees-to-the-purchase-of-broughton-foods.html |access-date=December 9, 2017}} The company also operated a sub-plant in Charleston, West Virginia. Broughton Foods Company was formerly owned by Suiza Foods Company.
• Land O'Lakes milk (licensed brand), Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin
• Liberty Dairy, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Louis Trauth Dairy, Kentucky and Ohio
• McArthur Dairy, South Florida
• Meadow Brook, Pennsylvania and New York
• Meadow Gold Dairy, Hawaii and Nebraska
• Melody Farms, Detroit, which itself had previously acquired R.W. Wilson & Sons, Detroit, Michigan{{cite news |url=http://georgeco.com/melody-farms-changes-hands-crains-detroit-business-june-23-2003/ |title=Melody Farms Changes Hands |date=June 23, 2003 |newspaper=Crains Detroit Business |access-date=January 4, 2016 |last1=Strong |first1=Michael}}
• Model Dairy, Northern Nevada
• H. Myer Dairy Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Swiss Dairy, California

In October 2010, Dean Foods announced it was retiring the Schepps brand for dairy products in the Dallas, Texas area in favor of their Oak Farms brand. The Schepps brand had been in the Dallas market since 1942.{{cite press release |agency=PR Newswire |title=Dean Foods to Transition Schepps Brand to Oak Farms in DFW Area |url=http://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/news/dean-foods-to-transition-scheppsr-brand-to-oak-farmsr-in-dfw-area/ |date=October 12, 2010 |access-date=November 12, 2019 |archive-date=November 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112140600/http://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/news/dean-foods-to-transition-scheppsr-brand-to-oak-farmsr-in-dfw-area/ |url-status=dead}}

In 2005, Dean Specialty Foods was spun off from Dean Foods as Bay Valley Foods, LLC, a division of TreeHouse Foods, Inc.{{cite web |title=History |url=http://www.treehousefoods.com/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407185422/http://www.treehousefoods.com/history.html |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |access-date=March 31, 2014 |publisher=TreeHouse Foods }} In June 2005, TreeHouse Foods started trading on the New York Stock Exchange with a ticker of THS.

In August 2006, Dean Foods acquired Jilbert's Dairy, a 70-year-old family business near Marquette, Michigan.[http://www.allbusiness.com/sector-31-33-manufacturing/food-manufacturing/1191588-1.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202093426/http://www.allbusiness.com/sector-31-33-manufacturing/food-manufacturing/1191588-1.html|date=December 2, 2010}}

Dean Food's TofuTown brand was acquired by the Hain Celestial Group in June 2007.

In December, Dean Foods bought the Wells Dairy milk plant in Le Mars, Iowa. The plant manufactured Blue Bunny ice cream. {{Cite web |title=Des Moines Register |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa-state/randy-peterson/2021/01/22/iowa-state-football-matt-campbell-builds-recruiting-after-cyclones-historic-season/6659475002/ |access-date= |website=The Des Moines Register}}

Dean Foods purchased Alpro in 2009 for an estimated US$455 million, making it a "global leader in soy beverages".[http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2009/07/06/daily1.html "Deans Foods Buys Alpro"], Dallas Business Journal, July 6, 2009. At that time, the company was restructured and a number of subsidiaries were sold, including Rachel's Organic.{{cite news |date=July 28, 2010 |title=French company buys dairy company Rachel's |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-10789663 |access-date=July 28, 2010}}

Dean Foods spun off WhiteWave Foods, the maker of Horizon Organic and Silk Soymilk, as a standalone company in May 2013.{{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=Alicia |date=May 23, 2013 |title=Dean Foods completes spinoff of WhiteWave |newspaper=The Denver Post |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2013/05/23/dean-foods-completes-spinoff-of-whitewave/ |access-date=July 24, 2017}}

In March 2005, the Cornucopia Institute filed a complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that their Horizon Organic subsidiary was violating "organic livestock management" standards.{{cite news |date=March 1, 2005 |title=The Cornucopia Institute has filed two formal complaints asking the USDA to investigate alleged violations of the federal organic raw by factory farms operating in Idaho and California with ties to Dean Foods-owned Horizon Organic (press release) |publisher=Dairy Field |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-131866324.html |url-status=dead |access-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125902/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-131866324.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}{{cite news |last1=Ivey |first1=Mike |date=March 7, 2006 |title=CAN A MEGA-DAIRY BE ORGANIC? |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-142977233.html |url-status=dead |access-date=July 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924134617/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-142977233.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}

On May 12, 2008, the Cornucopia Institute filed a second complaint with the USDA again alleging that Deans Foods had violated federal organic regulations requiring access to pasture and fresh grass for their dairy cows.[https://www.cornucopia.org/2008/05/americas-largest-corporate-dairy-processor-muscles-its-way-into-organics/ Clout-Heavy Dean Foods Kills USDA Investigation of Their Horizon Label] Cornucopia Institute. May 12, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2019.

Silk brand soy milk was made using organic soybeans until early 2009, when Dean Foods switched to conventional soybeans while maintaining the same UPC barcodes and prices on the Silk products and replacing the word “organic” with “natural” on the product's packaging,{{cite web |date=November 9, 2009 |title=Grocers irked over not being told that bestselling soy milk is no longer organic |url=https://www.cornucopia.org/2009/11/grocers-irked-over-not-being-told-that-bestselling-soy-milk-is-no-longer-organic/ |access-date=November 12, 2012}} prompting the Cornucopia Institute to file complaints that the company had not properly notified retailers or consumers.{{cite web |title=Pioneer Press: Search Results |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_multi=SP&p_product=SP&p_theme=realcities2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_site=twincities&s_trackval=SP&s_search_type=keyword&p_text_search-0=watchdog%20AND%20target%20AND%20falsely&s_dispstring=watchdog%20target%20falsely%20AND%20date%28all%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=_rank_:D&xcal_ranksort=4&xcal_useweights=yes |work=newsbank.com}} "The Cornucopia Institute made the complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Target and also accuses Silk soymilk producer Dean Foods and its Broomfield, Colo.-based WhiteWave Foods division, of quietly shifting their products away from organics."{{cite web |date=October 20, 2009 |title=Off Target - Major Retailer Accused of Organic Improprieties State and Federal Complaints Allege Mislabeling | Cornucopia Institute |url=http://www.cornucopia.org/2009/10/off-target-major-retailer-accused-of-organic-improprieties-state-and-federal-complaints-allege-mislabeling/ |access-date=October 20, 2013 |publisher=Cornucopia.org}}

Foremost Farms USA, a cooperative of over 2,000 dairy farmers in several mid-western states, sold its Wisconsin milk processing plants to Dean Foods in 2009.Barrett, Rick. [http://www.jsonline.com/business/42324437.html "Dean Foods acquires Waukesha, De Pere milk-processing plants"]. Journal Sentinel. April 2, 2009. Retrieved February 16, 2010. In January 2010, the US Department of Justice and the state attorneys general's office of Wisconsin and Michigan, filed a lawsuit objecting to the purchase and alleged that it created a monopolizing provider.{{cite web |date=January 22, 2010 |title=USDOJ: Justice Department Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Dean Foods Company |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-at-072.html |access-date=October 20, 2013 |publisher=Justice.gov}} Dean Foods announced it was contesting the complaint.{{Cite press release |url=http://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723150859/http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/news/press-release.aspx?StoryID=1378120 |url-status=dead |title=Dean Foods to Vigorously Contest Justice Department Complaint |quote=Says Acquisition of Wisconsin Plants Benefits Farmers and Customers |location=Dallas, Texas |date=January 22, 2010 |via=PRNewswire via COMTEX/ |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}

In 2011, a class action suit was brought against Dean Foods over health claims made on the packaging of Horizon Organic Milk.{{cite web |last1=Wernau |first1=Julie |year=2012 |title=Dean Foods sued for Horizon milk's health claims - Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/10/04/dean-foods-sued-for-horizon-milks-health-claims/ |access-date=March 9, 2012 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}} In 2012, Dean Foods contributed $253,950 to fund opposition to California's ballot Proposition 37 which would require mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients.{{cite web |title=Who's Funding Prop 37, Labeling for Genetically Engineered Foods? | Elections 2012 |date=July 9, 2012 |url=http://www.kcet.org/news/ballotbrief/elections2012/propositions/prop-37-funding-genetically-engineered-food.html |access-date=October 20, 2013 |publisher=kcet.org}}{{cite web |date=August 21, 2012 |title=Funding for and against Proposition 37 - Spreadsheets - Los Angeles Times |url=http://spreadsheets.latimes.com/funding-and-against-proposition-37/ |access-date=October 20, 2013 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}

In 2017, bettor and stock trader Billy Walters was convicted of insider trading in Dean shares in Federal court. Walters' source of non-public information was company director Thomas C. Davis employing a prepaid cell phone nicknamed "the Batphone" and, sometimes, the code words "Dallas Cowboys" for the company name. The case involved profits or avoided losses of $40 million from 2008 to 2014. The verdict was to be appealed according to Walters' lawyer.{{cite news |last1=Moynihan |first1=Colin |last2=Moyer |first2=Liz |date=April 7, 2017 |title=William T. Walters, Famed Sports Bettor, Is Guilty in Insider Trading Case |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/business/dealbook/william-t-walters-famed-sports-bettor-is-guilty-in-insider-trading-case.html |access-date=April 7, 2017}}

• FTC v. Dean Foods Co., 1966 decision of the US Supreme Court

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?CIK=DF&action=getcompany Dean Foods SEC Filings]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090114030604/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/earnings/earnings.asp?symbol=DF Dean Foods info] at Business Week
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150703123927/http://www.meadowgold.com/history.html Meadow Gold History] (archived, July 3, 2015)

{{Dean Foods}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|Companies|Food}}

Category:1925 establishments in Illinois

Category:2020 mergers and acquisitions

Category:American companies established in 1925

Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange

Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019

Category:Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States

Category:Dairy products companies of the United States

Category:Food and drink companies established in 1925

Category:Franklin Park, Illinois

Category:Manufacturing companies based in Dallas

Category:Yogurt companies

Category:Food and drink companies of the United States