Oakhurst Dairy history

In 1933 the company employed 14 people in its plants and had 33 deliverymen who, through Bennett's initiation, drove trucks with their own names painted on the sides.

Stanley Bennett's son, Donald Bennett, graduated from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with an architectural engineering degree in 1935.

After his father died in 1953, Don Bennett was named president of Oakhurst.

In 1954, Oakhurst completed an expansion of its processing plant, allowing it to produce up to 40,000 quarts of milk a day, a three-fold increase over its previous capacity.

Additionally, Don Bennett was a founding member of the National Dairy Council, and he also served as director of the Milk Industry Foundation from 1961-67.

In 1975 the Maine legislature revamped its Maine Milk Commission so that it no longer had any members who were directly involved in the dairy industry.

In 1976, the company ended home delivery of milk, citing their inability to make a profit on the operation due to increasing costs.

1977: Oakhurst purchases assets of Sanford Dairy in Sanford, Maine.

In 1990, Oakhurst was ordered to pay $1.9 million to the Fitzpatrick's former owner.

Previously, in 1994, Monsanto had settled lawsuits out of court with a Texas dairy and an Illinois dairy on similar grounds after the dairies agreed to change their labels.

Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and Green Party presidential candidate in 2000, joined the debate when he announced he would provide free legal assistance through his foundation that supported freedom of speech.

2001: Oakhurst celebrates its 80th year of operation.

In 2002 Oakhurst became one of the first dairies in the United States to voluntarily use a new FDA food-safety program called Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP). Bennett claimed in the Portland Press Herald, "HACCP provides a daily window into the food-safety process.

In 2003, Oakhurst was faced with a lawsuit from Monsanto over Oakhurst's label on its milk cartons that said "Our farmer's pledge: no artificial hormones," referring to the use of bovine somatotropin (rBST), a drug that increases milk production and that Monsanto sells.