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Foster Farms to Scoop Up Dairy
Bee News Services
John Holland
Foster Farms Dairy plans to buy Humboldt Creamery, a move that would make the Modesto company a major player in the organic milk business. Foster Farms placed the winning bid this week for the main assets of the 80-year-old north coast business, which has filed for bankruptcy. The arrangement going into the proceedings was that Foster Farms would buy the business for $20.5 million. It was not known whether this was the amount approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Rosa.
DAIRY DETAILS
FOUNDED: 1941
LOCATION: Headquarters and processing plant in Modesto; processing plant in Fresno; several dairy farms
OWNERS: Foster family
EMPLOYEES: More than 950
VOLUME: About 3 million gallons of milk a week
PRODUCTS: Milk, cream, ice cream, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, dry powders, yogurt, fruit juice and others
ON THE NET: www.fosterfarmsdairy.com.
Foster Farms representatives could not be reached Wednesday. The company has indicated that it won't comment until the bid is final. The purchase would continue the expansion of Foster Farms, the largest privately owned dairy producer in the state. The Modesto-based dairy operation changed its brand name to Crystal after its 2007 purchase of Crystal Cream and Butter Co. of Sacramento. The name was changed to try to capitalize on Crystal's "tremendous name recognition" in Sacramento and the Bay Area, the company said.
The purchase of Crystal, founded in 1901, boosted Foster Farms' milk production from about 2.5 million gallons a week to 3 million. It added hundreds of retail customer outlets. Humboldt Creamery and Foster Farms have similar products, including milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and powdered milk. Dairies throughout the region supply milk for organic and conventional products.
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