Category USA
Mike Durkin, president and CEO of Leprino Foods for the past nine years, has announced he will retire in 12 months. He will be replaced by Lance Fitzsimmons, the company’s chief supply officer, who has worked for Leprino since 2009. Founded by Mike Leprino in Denver Colorado in 1950, and still owned by his family, the company’s meteoric growth has slowed in recent years, although it still has a leading position in large-scale Mozzarella manufacturing with 10 huge plants in the US, a joint venture in Brazil, and the recent deal to buy out Glanbia Cheese from their joint venture in the UK with Glanbia PLC.
Agropur have agreed to pay a $30,000 fine for a breach of their permitted wastewater discharge limits at the cheese manufacturing plant in Jerome, Southern Idaho. The incident dates back to December 2021 when some 9,000 gallons of “discoloured effluent” were released into the local sewage system. The Jerome plant is now 32 years old and was opened by Davisco Foods in 1991. The Canadian co-op acquired Davisco in July 2014. Agropur have started the construction of a new $22m waste treatment plant.
While a third of Kansas is in the extreme drought category and the rest of the state is dry, the western border neighbouring Colorado has seen extreme hailstorms with the first rain for five years. A significant proportion of crops have been destroyed, and the rest will have stunted growth, posing a serious threat to next winter’s fodder. Overall, the latest national picture reported by USDA on August 3 shows the backbone of the country from central Texas through the High Plains to Northern Minnesota to be the worst drought-affected regions. Less severe drought is also reported in the Pacific Northwest.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture have announced a new programme which will support farmers who adopt products or strategies to lower their methane emissions. The Enteric Fermentation Incentive Programme has a budget of $25m and will encourage farmers to try new techniques or feed additives, without the worry of losing out financially.
Marie’s, the much-travelled Illinois-based manufacturer of dips and sauces, is changing hands once more. Its sale was announced this week by Venture Foods, who have owned the company since August 2005. The new owners will be West Madison Foods, owned by Brynwood Partners. Founded in Seattle in 1959 by restauranteur Marie Nordquist, the company has since had many owners—Specialty Brands, Campbell Soups in 1988 and the original Dean Foods in 1997. Following the Dean-Suiza merger in 2001-02, Dean started exiting non-core businesses and Marie’s was sold on to Venture Foods, recouping $200m. The company’s core business remains Marie Nordquist’s iconic blue cheese dip. The West Madison deal includes rights to both the Marie’s and Deans’ Dips brand names. Terms have not been disclosed.
