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October 6, 2004

Parmalat auditors to stand trial...Blue Bell expands to 15th state...Cheese operation expansion stalled...Dreyer's offers consumers a vote...New Product Scanner...Wal-Mart to expand reach in 2005...Ahold units launch organic/natural private label line...Odds-and-Ends...Stock Market Ticker...More news at www.idfa.org.

DAIRY BUSINESS BRIEFS

Two former Parmalat auditors will stand trial for false accounting and market rigging, the first indictments since the fraud scandal surfaced in late 2003. Both auditors worked at Grant Thornton's former Italian office. Prosecutors in Milan, Italy, are trying to convince a judge to order trials for a total of 29 people, ranging from the dairy giant's founder to former company financial officers and accountants. Parmalat's founder and former chief executive Calisto Tanzi was released from house arrest last week after spending months under arrest at home, in jail and at hospitals for treatment of chronic heart problems. (Associated Press)...In related news, an Italian judge has impounded the assets of 17 former officers and board members of the Parmalat group. A total of 27 people now have assets frozen in the civil case brought by Enrico Bondi, Parmalat's court appointed administrator. (Financial Times, London)

Blue Bell Ice Cream expanded its market in the Carolinas this week, with new distribution in Greenville-Spartanburg, Columbia and Florence, South Carolina, as well as a dozen cities in North Carolina. Blue Bell was previously only available in the Anderson, S.C., area. The ice cream is available at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Publix and Winn-Dixie outlets and RaceTrac gasoline stations. As part of the launch, Brenham, Texas-based Blue Bell treated more than 50 employees of the City of Spartanburg to an advance taste, bringing four of its most popular flavors to City Hall to sample. Blue Bell is now distributed in 15 states. (Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, S.C.)

Progress on the planned Twin County Dairy Inc. dehydration plant in Kalona, Iowa, is stalled by county land-use issues. The company, known as The Cheese Factory, announced the $10 million upgrade eight months ago. At issue are site plan review standards and the designation of an economic growth area in close proximity to the facility. The dairy hopes to break ground on the project before the ground freezes and to have the new building open by March. (Associated Press)

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Co. is tapping into election-year political fervor with a Dreyer's Grand Light presidential sundae flavor contest. Voters can cast a vote for "4 S'more Years," "Cherry For Change" or "Banana Split on the Decision." Everyone who votes in the ice cream poll gets a chance to win free ice cream for the next four years. Ballots can be cast at www.Dreyers.com(Company report)

NEW PRODUCT SCANNER

Single-serve fortified milk under the Milky Way®, Starburst® and 3 Musketeers® brands will hit c-store markets in late 2004 in a co-branding effort by Slammers® from Bravo! Foods International. The flavored extended shelf-life (ESL) milk from North Palm Beach, Fla.-based Bravo! will be sold in 14-oz. single-serve bottles with trademark confection graphics; varieties will reflect each candy's distinctive taste. For instance, Slammers® Starburst® will be a blend of lowfat milk and natural juice to produce the candy's famous burst of strawberry, peach and orange flavors. Additional varieties are expected to be added by mid-2005. (Company report)

Dolce Food Corp. of Boston has launched il Dolce Futuro™ (The Sweet Future), a premium light ice cream targeted toward low-carb, low-calorie or lowfat regimens as well as those watching sugar intake due to diabetes or pre-diabetic conditions. The company was founded by Dr. Michael Singer, a diabetes specialist and "life-long ice cream fanatic." The ice cream is available in 16-oz. containers in flavors of Butter Pecan Abandon, Chocolate Surrender, Vanilla Bean Embrace, Java Elation, and Chocolate Almond Crush. Il Dolce Futuro is currently available in Rhode Island and will be rolling out across the United States in 2005.

CUSTOMER CLIPS

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open or expand 40 to 45 of its flagship discount stores and 240 to 250 Supercenters in the United States next year as a continuation of its aggressive expansion plan. Relocations or expansions of current stores will account for about 160 of the new Supercenters. Wal-Mart also expects to open 30 to 40 new Sam's Club warehouse stores, including about 20 relocations or expansions of existing stores. It also plans to expand its Neighborhood Market grocery chain by 25 to 30 new stores. Additionally, the plan includes building three new merchandise distribution centers, three new food distribution centers and remodeling 360 stores and clubs. The expansion plan will start at the beginning of the company's next fiscal year on Feb. 1, 2005. (Associated Press)

Many Ahold USA units—including Stop N' Shop (350 stores), Quincy, Mass., and Giant Food (200 stores), Landover, Md.—are introducing a new line of organic and natural food products called Nature's Promise. Giant will initially introduce 25 Nature's Promise products, in the dairy and grocery categories, including organic milk and soy bevrages; a total of 90 new Nature's Promise products will be available by early next year...In other news, Andrew Parkinson was named president of Ahold's wholly-owned subsidiary Internet grocer Peapod. Parkinson replaces former president and CEO Marc van Gelder. Parkinson most recently served as the company's CFO; together with his brother Thomas, he founded Peapod in 1989, pioneering the online grocery delivery concept. (Company reports)

Don Baker is the new president and chief operating officer of Colton, Calif.-based Stater Bros. Markets. Baker is a 21-year veteran of Stater Bros., with 44 years of experience in the supermarket industry. (Company report)

MILKPEP NEWS

2005 MilkPEP Programming Sales Binders Now Available
Fluid milk processors should have received the 2005 sales binder that outlines all of the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP)'s activities for 2005, including details on three national milk promotions with increased emphasis on weight-loss and other programs that companies can tailor to specific brands and marketing plans. The 2005 programming, which features powerful efforts to promote milk's role in weight loss as well as milk's popularity with teens, weaves together advertising, public relations and promotions efforts for maximum punch. Milk processors that have not received a binder or need additional copies should contact the milk hotline at 1-800-945-MILK (6455).

ODDS-AND-ENDS

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a $2.8 million grant to develop more than two dozen dairy cooperatives in the east African country of Uganda. The grant will be used between 2004 and 2009 by the Land O' Lakes International Development Division to develop the co-ops. (Xinhua News Agency)...Joel Midkiff, general manager of Sinton Dairy in Colorado Springs, is the new chairman of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the statewide chamber of commerce. (The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.)...In Hawaii, Meadow Gold Dairies and its union employees reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract, which workers are expected to ratify this week. The agreement is expected to avoid an authorized strike that could have left Hawaii with little or no locally produced milk. (The Honolulu Advertiser)...Long collectible in dairy circles, 84 milk bottles are part of an exhibit titled "Bottle: Contemporary Art and Vernacular Tradition" at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut. The bottles are on loan from the 3,000-bottle collection of Michael Marcus; his family owns Marcus Dairy in Ridgefield, Conn. (Associated Press)

STOCK MARKET TICKER

As of 10/05/04, 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		26.21 30.06 79.95 45.10 15.89 47.13 12.15 31.40 15.56 20.48 19.44 33.35 28.43 33.19 35.67 15.10 03.93		+0.00 -0.17 +0.00 -0.16 +0.07 -0.41 -0.06 -0.30 -0.05 +0.06 +0.04 -0.13 +0.17 +0.11 -0.28 -0.13 +0.19		+0.30 +0.10 +0.02 +0.30 +0.29 +0.85 -0.05 -0.55 -0.04 +1.20 +0.10 +0.45 +0.72 -0.25 +1.47 +0.20 +0.75
Source: Yahoo! Finance

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