Dean Buys White Wave for $189 Million

by Joseph LewandowskiOn May 10, White Wave founder Steve Demos stood before a standing room-only crowd in a packed New York City hotel ballroom and delivered the message he’d waited nearly 30 years to pitch: Operating a business dedicated to the principals of right livelihood and sustainable agriculture can deliver not only spiritual fulfillment, but big-time profits.Two days before, Demos announced that Dean Foods, the giant Dallas-based dairy and beverage company, had purchased White Wave for $189 million.For Boulder, Colo.-based White Wave, the purchase means the company will have the financial and physical resources to put more of its soy products – primarily its Silk soy beverage – into more consumers’ homes. Dean will provide cash and expertise to expand marketing and manufacturing. The company’s 120 dairy and manufacturing facilities scattered throughout 38 states will provide much-needed production facilities for Silk. Currently, White Wave can’t meet consumer demand.Demos started making organic tofu in 1977 in Boulder and built the company into a powerhouse that last year generated $125 million in sales, mostly attributable to Silk. But White Wave didn’t have the money to keep up with national demand and maintain its market lead in the soy milk category.Dean, which bought […]

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