July 7, 2004

Lifeway Foods to buy cream cheese company .... Rhode Island producers launching milk brand .... Vermont schools gain dairy vending machines .... Dairy People News .... Nash Finch suit dismissed .... Chi-Chi's to settle hepatitis A lawsuits .... Thriftway units in Cincinnati sold .... Odds-and-Ends .... Stock Market Ticker .... More news at www.idfa.org.

DAIRY BUSINESS BRIEFS

Within the next 60 days, Lifeway Foods Inc., Morton Grove, Ill., plans to purchase an unnamed, privately held gourmet cream cheese manufacturer in the Philadelphia area. The company also makes products similar to farmer's cheese and has East Coast distribution capabilities. Lifeway's LaFruta, Lo Carb Kefir and other product lines will be distributed through the acquired distribution routes to the "significant kefir markets" of Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey. (Company report)

Jamestown, R.I.-based Rhode Island Dairy Farms Cooperative will market its milk under the Rhody Fresh brand starting July 12 in more than 20 Rhode Island grocery stores. The fluid milk line will be packed by Guida's Milk & Ice Cream, New Britain, Conn., and distributed by Li'l Rhody Farms. The co-op reports that the initiative is aimed at providing locally produced milk to consumers while boosting profits for producers in the face of mounting development pressure. The marketing effort received $125,000 in funding from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-public venture to enhance the state's business community. (Company report)

A group of nine dairy farmers from Chittenden County, Vt., raised $10,000 to supply five local middle and high schools with dairy vending machines. The group received a matching grant from the Vermont Dairy Promotion Council, a checkoff program for state farmers. This fall, the machines will be stocked with a range of dairy products from strawberry-flavored milk to string cheese to yogurt smoothies. The group hopes to raise money to place another five machines by the start of the 2005 school year. (Associated Press)

DAIRY PEOPLE NEWS

Tarrytown, N.Y.-based The Dannon Co. Inc. appointed Juan Carlos Dalto president and CEO, effective immediately. Dalto, a 39-year-old Argentine citizen, joined Dannon's parent company Groupe Danone in 1997 and has served as CEO of Danone Portugal and as president and CEO of Danone Italia. In his new post, he has strategic and direct responsibilities for the company's dairy products in the U.S. and Canada. He succeeds Thomas Kunz, 47, who was recently promoted to executive vice president of the Groupe Danone Water and Beverage Division. (Company report)

Thomas P. Briggs, former senior vice president and chief financial officer for Horizon Organic Holding Corp., has joined the board of directors for Chicago-based Dakota Beef LLC, a certified organic beef provider. Briggs spent four years at Horizon, overseeing company growth and its acquisition by Dean Foods Co., Dallas. Prior to joining Horizon, Briggs was vice president of finance for Denver-based Leprino Foods Co. (Company report)

In Passing: Walter J. Fiedler, 84, who worked for many years in ice cream sales and marketing for Meadowgold Dairies in the Chicago area, died June 30. Condolences at www.dailyherald.com/obits. (Chicago Daily Herald)

CUSTOMER CLIPS

A federal judge in Minnesota has dismissed "with prejudice" a shareholder-filed securities class action lawsuit against Edina, Minn.-based food retailer and wholesaler Nash Finch Co. The lawsuit had consolidated eight class action suits filed in late 2002 and early 2003, alleging that the company issued false statements of business and financial results in connection with vendor promotions. Also dismissed with prejudice were shareholder derivative actions filed in the Minnesota state court against the company's board and some officers. This type of dismissal means that the litigant cannot bring new action on the same claim again, but the decision is subject to appeal. (Saint Paul Pioneer Press)

Chi-Chi's Inc. has received bankruptcy court authorization to pay $2.18 million to settle 60 claims stemming from the largest hepatitis A outbreak in U.S. history. More than 600 people contracted the disease after eating contaminated Mexican green onions at a Chi-Chi's restaurant in western Pennsylvania. Four people died in the incident. Of the 60 settled claims, five are for more than $35,000. Owned by FRI-MRD and Prandium Inc., both of Irvine, Calif., Chi-Chi's initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on Oct. 8, 2003. (Associated Press)

Lakeland, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. sold off eight Thriftway store units in the greater Cincinnati area. Six are going to The Kroger Co.'s Cincinnati division, which runs 103 stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. One store will go to Erlanger, Ky.-based Remke Markets, and one to SuperValu division Bigg's Supermarkets, Milford, Ohio. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

IDFA NEWS

BevExpo to Offer Extensive Programming on Milk, Dairy Beverages Market
IDFA is encouraging beverage industry professionals to register now for BevExpo 2004, set for September 29-October 1 in Tampa. The show will feature an extensive beverage conference program jointly developed by IDFA and Beverage Marketing Corporation that includes the latest marketing, operations and regulatory information about milk and dairy-based beverages, as well as juices and other competitive beverages. Processors will learn about health claims, labeling, package sizes, consumer trends and other factors that impact the bottom line. As an added bonus, the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) will offer sessions on recent studies regarding flavors, nutrition and wellness trends, and optimizing space in the dairy case. To register for BevExpo or for complete programming information, click here.
http://www.bevexpo.com

ODDS-AND-ENDS

Contaminated water buffalo milk in Pakistan sent about 200 people to the hospital with food poisoning. About 40 patients, including many children, remained hospitalized this week. A dairy farmer who had milked a new water buffalo distributed the raw milk to the poor in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi. Owners of buffalos and dairy cows often distribute the results of a first milking among neighbors in a traditional belief that the gift will improve milk production. The food poisoning was apparently caused by bacteria in the milk. (Associated Press) ... Dairy cows are being credited with helping to track down a suspected killer in Tennessee. Parker Ray Elliott, who is suspected of shooting his ex-wife and two children, led authorities on a chase for more than a week near a Maury County farm. One of the investigators noticed that some of the farm's dairy cows were paying particular attention to a wooded area and followed the lead. Officers soon captured Elliott in those woods. (Associated Press)

STOCK MARKET TICKER

As of 7/6/04, market close.

Company/Symbol		Last Trade		Change over Previous Close		Change over Last Week's D-brief
ConAgra Foods/CAG Dean Foods/DF Dreyer's/DRYR General Mills/GIS Groupe Danone/DA Hershey Foods/HSY Ingles Markets/IMKTA Kraft Foods/KFT Kroger/KR Ruddick Corp./RDK Safeway/SWY Saputo/SAP.TO SuperValu/SVU Unilever PLC/UL Weis Markets/WMK Wimm Bill Dann/WBD Winn-Dixie/WIN		26.85 36.94 79.28 46.75 17.41 46.09 11.10 31.55 17.85 21.83 24.66 32.05 29.92 38.85 34.65 13.40 07.08		-0.02 +0.09 +0.23 -0.23 -0.10 +0.58 -0.04 +0.53 +0.07 -0.13 -0.10 +0.90 -0.08 -0.42 -0.53 +0.00 -0.10		-0.20 -0.12 +0.31 +0.63 -0.19 +0.16 -0.15 +0.35 -0.20 -0.16 -0.52 +0.16 -0.84 -0.69 -1.40 -0.54 +0.01
Source: Yahoo! Finance

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ABOUT D-BRIEF

D-brief is written by Dairy Field magazine, a Stagnito Communications Inc. publication, www.dairyfield.com. It is provided for the benefit of the industry by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), www.idfa.org.

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