PET Dairy history

By 1934 Pet Milk became the first company to add vitamin D to its dairy products via the process of irradiation.

1941—Again, PET is called upon to supply GIs fighting in World War II, as well as the citizens at home.

A research and development lab was established as early as 1943.

In 1947 Dean also entered the ice cream business.

1950—The combination of post-war prosperity and a baby boom result in more cans of PET Milk being sold than at any other time in the company's 65-year history.

In 1951 the company established new headquarters in Franklin Park, Illinois, in suburban Chicago.

When John Latzer died in 1952, after more than 30 years with Pet Milk, his brother Robert Latzer took over.

In 1955, as a result of the efforts of Louis Latzer's grandson Theodore Gamble, Pet Milk acquired its first nondairy operation: the Pet-Ritz Foods Company in Michigan.

The expansion plans were announced in 1959 by Gamble, elected president in February following Robert Latzer's move to chairman.

The company also planned new product development to wean itself from the declining milk market (as late as 1960, 95 percent of Pet Milk sales were in dairy products). By the early 1960s, diversification had begun in earnest.

Another of Pet Milk's successful products at this time was Sego Liquid Diet Food, introduced in 1961.

Pet Milk created a new market with their 1962 introduction of Pet-Ritz frozen pie-crust shells.

In 1963 the company bought the Dutch-based C. V. Gebroeders Pel, a producer of jelly and other confections.

In 1964 Pet Milk moved into the gourmet foods market, buying Reese Finer Foods, Inc., and D. E. Winebrenner Co., a fruit-juice maker.

By 1965 Sego brought in $22 million to the company's Milk Products Division sales.

1966—PET began making "better for you" products including a Skimmed Milk and a 99% Fat Free Evaporated Skim Milk.

In 1968 the corporation made a key acquisition, purchasing the 50-year-old Texas-based Mountain Pass Canning Company, maker of the Old El Paso brand.

Upon Gamble's death in March 1969, Boyd F. Schenk became president and chief executive officer of Pet.

Howard Dean became company president in 1970, along with some other changes in management that signaled a new era for Dean Foods.

By 1976, under Schenk's guidance, Pet enjoyed record earnings, clearing $23.7 million on record sales of $1.01 billion.

The company devoted more money to advertising and promotions than ever before, budgeting over $30 million (the previous year's total) for fiscal year 1977.

Complicating the acquisition were ongoing talks Pet had conducted with the fast-food chain Hardee's, which it had agreed to buy for $95 million in March 1978.

By mid-1980, Pet had pared down more than 30 divisions into four groups: Grocery; Specialty; Frozen & Bakery; and International.

In 1982 Pet bought the William Underwood Company and its related products, including the B&M and Accent brands.

Dairy products accounted for nearly 70 percent of Dean's total sales in 1984.

By 1985 Pet sold its dairy division.

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.

New products sales were close to $125 million in 1987, up 25 percent from the previous year.

In 1988 Pet established a hold in the market of refrigerated foods through its acquisition of Orval Kent Food Company, Inc., a producer of salads for foodservice and supermarket delicatessens.

"Dean Foods Co.: A Big Processor Survives a Dry Spell," Barron's , April 10, 1989.

Another new product was introduced in 1990: a low-fat milk with reduced lactose, a sugar that causes digestion problems for some milk drinkers.

Oloroso, Arsenio, "Dean Foods' Dry Spell Ends," Crain's Chicago Business , July 29, 1991.

With one exception, all acquisitions through 1992 were privately held companies, often family owned.

In early 1995 Dean's CFO, Tim Bondy, resigned abruptly, and Dean's stock dropped 8 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.

"Dean Foods to Cut 840 Jobs and Close 13 Plants," New York Times , May 29, 1996.

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.

Rewick, C.J., "Dean Foods to Can Veggie Venture," Crain's Chicago Business , July 27, 1998.

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.

The "new" Dean Foods was a dairy giant, its Dairy Group generating nearly $9 billion in sales by 2004.

2016 ©/® Eagle Family Foods Group LLC All Rights Reserved.