Dairy Enterprises: the empire strikes back

Dairy Foods, May, 1996 by Peggy Anderson

Dairy Enterprises builds a northeast fluid empire and strengthens brand identity

Dairy Enterprises as a whole may not be as well known as its parts. The parts of the Union, N.J.-based company would be a collection of dairies in the tri-state metropolitan area. Tuscan, Dellwood, Yoo-Hoo, Body Wise and Ultra Dairy are familiar brand names to northeastern consumers but what's most interesting is the behind-the-scenes action.

The Dairy industry is never the same from year to year. The number of acquisitions and mergers in the dairy business has steadily increased during the past five years.

According to The Food Institute, mergers and acquisitions are at a five-year high, with 18 dairy companies merging or acquiring businesses last year. The company profile of Dairy Enterprises is reflective of this trend in the dairy business. The company's newest component is Lehigh Valley Dairies, Lansdale, Pa., acquired last month. The acquisition represents an expansion into the Pennsylvania market and a broader scope for Dairy Enterprises.

Dairy Enterprises' self-tagged "Greater New York Dairy" has united two of its strongest brands, Tuscan and Dellwood, into one company and one Tuscan Dellwood brand. Bright colors and whimsical graphics depicting a cow jumping over a cityscape grace the new brands' new half-gallon paperboard cartons. New packaging gives the new brand a new look.

Equally important is the joining of forces, which allows the company to focus on increasing responsiveness to its customers' needs. "Now, as one company, these two great names have joined forces to provide our loyal customers with a level of quality and service unsurpassed in the industry," the company touts on its new cartons.

A fluid business

Investing in its future, Dairy Enterprises President Michael Marcus has been upgrading plants companywide and is installing new equipment. New equipment means new products, and Dairy Enterprises has plenty making their way to freezer cases this season.

This spring, the company will roll out UHT half-gallons of Yoo-Hoo chocolate drink. The newest offering joins a successful five-year run with Yoo-Hoo chocolate beverage in half-pints, pints, quarts and half-gallons.

In 1991 Tuscan acquired a license from Yoo-Hoo Chocolate Beverage Corp. to process, market and distribute the chocolate drink in gabletop cartons. Two Tuscan subsidiaries, Shenandoah's Pride Dairy in Mt. Crawford, Va., and Broughton Foods in Marietta, Ohio, co-pack Yoo-Hoo under sublicenses from Tuscan. More than 2 million gallons per year of Yoo-Hoo chocolate drink have been processed.

Playing up its Tuscan brand identity, the company is introducing Tuscan Supreme protein fortified milk in half-gallons this month. Tuscan Supreme falls in step with the current trend for value-added, fortified dairy products and will be available this summer.

Consumers with a heightened awareness of the nutritional value of milk yet a yearning for desirable mouthfeel, texture and taste have provoked this new generation of "super milks." The idea of making skim milk better is not a new one to Tuscan. The company introduced Skim Supreme, a nonfat, protein-fortified skim with the taste of whole milk, six years ago.

Building on its third-party industrial business, the Fraser-based Ultra Dairy will begin producing ice cream mix for Carvel Corp. A series of UHT ice cream mixes in half-gallons is in the works. A lactose-reduced milk in half-gallons, produced on a custom-packaging basis, is ready for market as well.

The improved technology for enhancing skim milk's taste and texture, coupled with the consumer demand for better-for-you beverages, has spurred products like Body Wise fat free milk. Body Wise, introduced last year, attempts to mimic the creamy taste and viscosity of whole milk in a nonfat product.