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Dean Operations, Inc. history
Dean Operations, Inc. company history timeline
Velda Farms, which was founded in 1955, manufactured and distributed fresh milk, ice cream, and related products under its own brand names to about 9,500 foodservice accounts, convenience stores, club stores, and schools.
A major milestone for the company came in 1961 with the purchase of Green Bay Food Company.
Dean Milk Company completed its first public offering of stock in 1961.
Reflecting this expansion, the company changed its name to Dean Foods Company in 1963.
Sergeant First Class Dean Baratta was born in Trenton New Jersey, in September 1968.
Dean began serving the Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio regions with its 1984 purchase of a Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, dairy.
Dairy products accounted for nearly 70 percent of Dean’s total sales in 1984.
A Kentucky-based dairy specialty company brought Dean into that area through a 1985 acquisition.
Moving out of the largely Midwestern markets proved profitable for Dean as early as 1985, when its Southern and Southwestern regions became the company’s strongest performers.
Dean’s sales hit the $1 billion mark in 1985, after 13 consecutive years of record earnings.
When he joined the army on October 15, 1986, Baratta selected the Intelligence branch, a choice that reflected his high school love of historical research and military affairs.
Horwich, Andrea, “Boosting Sales by Boning Up on Calcium,” Dairy Foods, October 1986.
Ryan Milk Company of Kentucky, also acquired in 1986, brought with it a line of aseptic products and a distribution network that reached 40 states.
Another watershed event for Dean in 1986 was when it merged with Larsen Company and entered the vegetable business.
With the purchase of Elgin Blenders, Inc., in 1986, Dean began supplying stabilizers and other products to McDonald’s Corporation.
“Dean Foods,” Dairy Foods, April 1987.
Dean purchased Verifine Dairy Products Corp. at the end of 1987.
In large part because of these two purchases, Dean's fluid milk sales grew 14 percent in 1988.
Later in 1988 Kaminski/Engles bought Sparkle Ice from The Circle K Company, another convenience store chain, and combined it into Reddy Ice.
Andrews, Nina, “Financial Officer Named President of Dean Foods,” New York Times, January 2, 1989.
“Dean Foods,” Dairy Foods, April 1989.
Shaw's annual sales in 1989 were $55 million.
Dean also made some internal changes in 1989: Howard Dean became chairman; William Fischer became president; and Kenneth Douglas became vice-chairman.
The cost of acquisitions and the anti-trust settlement, combined with a drought-related fall-off in milk production, caused a dip in earnings going into 1989.
Dean sold its retail Baskin-Robbins ice cream business in 1989, but continued to be the stores' sole supplier for two of their major distribution areas.
“Dean Foods Co.,” Dairy Foods, April 1990.
Dean launched 1990 with the purchase of Mayfield Dairy Farms, Inc.
The operating earnings in specialty foods exceeded Dean's dairy products segment for the first time in fiscal 1990.
Another new product was introduced in 1990: a low-fat milk with reduced lactose, a sugar that causes digestion problems for some milk drinkers.
When he joined the army, Baratta had intended to leave the service for good on completion of his initial enlistment in 1990.
“Firm Completes Unit’s Sale to Finnish Dairy Collective,” Wall Street Journal, January 4, 1991.
Dean purchased Cream o'Weber Dairy, Inc., of Utah in April 1991.
——, “Small Niche, Big Potential,” Dairy Foods, May 1991.
“Dean Foods Expects to Split Stock, Boost Payout, as Profit Rises,” Wall Street Journal, July 17, 1991.
Three more dairies acquired in early 1991 brought with them $150 million in annual revenues.
Dean passed the $2 billion mark for the first time in 1991.
Palmer, Jay, “Growing Again,” Barren’s, July 6, 1992.
With one exception, all acquisitions through 1992 were privately held companies, often family owned.
However, an excess of crops in fiscal 1992 put a squeeze on Dean's profits in the vegetable segment.
In early 1993 Dean acquired W.B. Roddenbery Co.
In January 1994, Dean Foods completed negotiations with Yarnell Ice Cream Co. to manufacture and distribute a line of low-fat and non-fat dairy products under Yarnell's Guilt Free brand, and two months later Dean purchased Birds Eye frozen foods from Kraft General Foods for $140 million.
In January 1995 Baratta joined the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 213th Area Support Group in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
In early 1995 Dean's CFO, Tim Bondy, resigned abruptly, and Dean's stock dropped eight percent on this news: according to observers, Bondy was the mastermind behind Dean's growth-by-acquisition strategy, and his departure raised eyebrows on Wall Street.
Similarly, Velda bought Skinner's Dairy Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, in January 1996.
Company stock was traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol SWZA. An additional $10 million was secured in August 1996 through a private placement of common stock to the T. Rowe Price Small Cap Value Fund.
By 1996 Dean's rapid expansion into the vegetable business was taking a severe toll on earnings, as excess production, stagnant prices, and weak demand hurt vegetable processors throughout the country.
In January 1997 the company announced the selection of Phil Marineau, the former head of Quaker Oats' Gatorade unit, as president and COO. Marineau replaced Thomas L. Rose, who retired from those positions but maintained a position as vice-chairman of the board.
The company had revenues of about $200 million in 1997.
In early 1998 Suiza expanded its presence in the Midwest through the February acquisition of Oberlin Farms Dairy, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, and the March purchase of Louis Trauth Dairy, Inc., of Newport, Kentucky.
Suiza settled the suit by agreeing to sell one of Broughton's Kentucky dairies, and the deal closed in June 1999 at a reduced price of $86 million plus the assumption of $20 million in debt.
Continental Can also had nine European plants that manufactured food cans and plastic packaging; these operations were almost immediately identified as likely candidates for divestment, and they were in fact sold off in 2000.
In April 2001 Dean Foods, after more than three-quarters of a century in the milk business, agreed to be acquired by the industry's upstart but now clear number one player, Suiza Foods.
——, "Dallas-Based Foods Firm's Deal Will Create Dairy Giant," Dallas Morning News, April 6, 2001.
Guy, Sandra, "Dean to Chug Along in Slow-Growth Area," Chicago Sun-Times, January 14, 2002.
In May 2002 Dean spent $192.8 million for the 64 percent of WhiteWave it did not already own.
Augstums, Ieva M., "Dallas-Based Dairy Distributor to Sell Puerto Rico Units to Peruvian Concern," Dallas Morning News, November 12, 2002.
Baratta’s unit was notified in late February 2003 that it was going to be called to active duty and sent overseas.
Restructuring continued in 2003 as several more milk plants were closed and Morningstar Foods was transformed into the Dean Branded Products Group.
Late in 2003 Dean's Specialty Foods Group bought the Cremora brand of nondairy powdered creamer from Eagle Family Foods, Inc.
Demos was initially placed in charge of WhiteWave, but he resigned in March 2005, apparently after Dean concluded that it needed someone at WhiteWave with more consumer packaged goods experience.
Dean shifted its Second Nature egg substitute, Mocha Mix nondairy creamer, and foodservice salad businesses into the Specialty group before completing the spinoff in June 2005, which created the new, publicly traded TreeHouse Foods, Inc.
Keeley, Carol; Salamie, David; Kepos, Paula; Salamie, David "Dean Foods Company ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/dean-foods-company
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