Agropur expands its U.S. presence

LONGUEUIL, QC, Sept. 29 /CNW Telbec/ - Agropur's Board of Directors, Canada's largest dairy cooperative, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Farmland Dairies' Grand Rapids facility, a milk processing company located in the State of Michigan.

"This most recent acquisition is a leading manufacturer and marketer of on-trend UHT and aseptic dairy products. It represents a great fit with our current fluid milk operations in the U.S. and will allow us to keep building a strong foundation for continued growth south of the border", reported Agropur's CEO, Pierre Claprood.

The Grand Rapids facility will be part of Schrœder Milk's operations, which is Agropur Division Natrel's U.S base operation, and will be overseen by Schrœder Milk's President, Bob Kirchoff , who reports to the Vice-president, Business Development for Division Natrel, Ken Hume .

About Farmland Dairies' Grand Rapids facility

Farmland Dairies remains a market leader of milk and milk products. Its shelf stable products are produced from its state of the art, HACCP approved facility in Grand Rapids , Michigan, where they process and package all UHT aseptic dairy and broth products. Its mission is to build a company where every employee will provide quality products and services to all of its customers.

About Agropur

Founded in 1938, Agropur Cooperative is a Canadian dairy industry leader, with $3.1 billion in annualized sales. It has 3,615 shareholders and, further to this latest acquisition, 5,000 employees distributed among its 27 plants and numerous distribution centres and offices across Canada , the U.S. and Argentina . It processes over 2.7 billion litres of milk annually and offers an impressive array of products, including such popular brands as Québon, Oka, Sealtest, Natrel, Island Farms, Yoplait, La Lacteo, Trega and Schrœder.

For further information: Jean Brodeur, Vice-President, Communications and Public Relations, Agropur, [phone], ext. 4560