Dean Foods pours into extended shelf life (sidebar)

As this issue went to press, Suiza Foods Corp. had agreed to purchase Dean Foods for $1.5 billion. Internet reports said the entity would retain the Dean Foods name but be based in Dallas. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to determine if extended shelf life costs played a part in the sale. However, Dean’s had reported earlier that, “costs associated with the significant ramp-up of complex, state-of-the-art technology to produce these products are expected to impact earnings by approximately $4 million.” The March ‘01 remarks, seen on Dean’s Web site, hinted at the strain associated with the Franklin Park, IL, company’s investment in ESL. Dean’s National Refrigerated Products group president Lou Nieto said, “I can’t really comment other than to reference what we’ve said in our press releases that we’ve had some cost issues associated with the start-up of new technology on some of our extended shelf-life products.” Howard Dean, the company’s chief executive who reportedly will step down from his position next year, said in the earlier Web site release, “We are confident the operational issues associated with the intermediate and extended shelf life technology will be resolved.”