Dean Foods eyes cuts, seeks food-manufacturing partner

Nation's Restaurant News, March 4, 2002

DALLAS -- DEAN FOODS Co., the dairy products and specialty foods supplier based here, plans to reduce corporate staffing at three locations over the next year.

The reduction, which results from the merger of Suiza Foods Corp. and Dean Foods Co., is expected to include about 200 positions at the company's former headquarters in Franklin Park, Ill., and facilities in Rosemont and Rockford, Ill.

The reductions were expected to begin this month. Dean Foods offered employees facing layoff severance packages and assistance with outplacement support.

In other news the company is looking to acquire a national food-manufacturing partner to help fill out capacity on its approximately 6,000 direct-to-store distribution routes, according to Reuters news service.

The merger of Suiza and Dean Foods, which was completed in December, created a company with more than $10 billion in annual sales. It produces branded and private label dairy products as well as pickles, juice and water. Dean operates 129 plants in 39 U.s. states and three countries, and employs more than 30,000 people.