Marigold Foods comes of age: innovative subsidiary key to National Dairy Holdings

Dairy Foods, Dec, 2002

With its acquisition by NDH, Marigold has truly come of age. Marigold was emphasizing product and marketing innovations while much of the industry was engaged in seeking efficiencies through acquisition. Marigold is now part of a company that employs a distribution network that is second only to Dean Foods. And the company is about to become even bigger as it merges with Hood, which has a strong brand presence in the Northeast, a growing portfolio of branded extended shelf life products sold nationally, and a stable of seven plants.

It's sometimes easy to forget that National Dairy is partnered with Dairy Farmers of America. The Kansas City co-op has a 50% stake but is not actively involved in the management of NDH. But Green notes the importance of that partnership.

"DFA is the largest farm cooperative in America, with 25,000 farmer members," he says. "From an operations perspective that is a plus for our business in that it clearly provides us with a partner for raw milk and access to dairy R&D that heretofore we had no access to. For a Midwest dairy, being involved in a partnership with a farmer cooperative is a real benefit, considering the shrinking regional milk supply."

Kurr now leads a national sales team of more than 120, which includes a dedicated foodservice division. Kemps products are sold through traditional sales channels, warehouse stores and vending.

"We've had great success with convenience stores," Kurr says. "And one of our most aggressive initiatives in the last couple years has been aimed at expanding our interests in the national restaurant chains."

While Marigold has grown quickly in the past few years, Green is quick to point Out that much about it has not changed. He still sees the company as an innovator first. And he's proud of the fact that Marigold maintained a consistent level of customer service' and employee loyalty during the nearly year-long period when it was being offered for sale.

"Marigold has certainly grown in size and grown in sales and the number of product lines we carry and it's grown relative to the value added side of the business," he says. "But we remain true to a culture that says our people are important. And I believe we've retained a caring, family-oriented culture through all our growth."

And while the Kemps brand has become familiar to more and more consumers outside of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Marigold is still connected to the local community. Recently the company featured two ice cream flavors, Tilt-a-Swirl and Nut Goodie, which are tied to local institutions that, like Marigold, have become part of the Minnesota landscape. The Minnesota Kid has grown up, but it hasn't forgotten its home.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ten Years of Yo-J

Introduced in 1992, Yo-J, a yogurt and juice drink sold under the kemps brand by Marigold Foods, anticipates sales as a result of recent and projected market expansions to more than quadruple from 2002 to 2012.

However, what's most impressive about Yo-J is that while other regional and national marketers introduced and then discontinued their version of a yogurt-juice drink. Yo-J held its ground and has only shown positive sales growth in the 101 years since its debut in grocers juice cases.