Zausner Foods Agrees to Buy Alta-Dena : Stueve Family Will Keep Its Natural Line, 6 Dairies
Executives at Alta-Dena Certified Dairy Inc., one of the largest family-owned dairy companies in the United States, have agreed to sell the firm to Zausner Foods, an American subsidiary of Bongrain S.A. of France.
Alta-Dena, owned by the Stueve family and headquartered in City of Industry, did not release the financial details of the deal.
Alta-Dena Chairman Harold Stueve said Friday that competitive pressures and his age--he’s 71--contributed to the decision to sell the 44-year-old company. Stueve said he will stay on as a consultant. No layoffs and no major management changes are planned, he said.
The company’s brands of pasteurized milk products--processed and distributed by about 700 employees at facilities in Tustin, San Diego, Highland, Chatsworth and Hawthorne--will be sold by Zausner under the Alta-Dena name, according to the two firms. Zausner will acquire Alta-Dena’s milk, ice cream, cultured products and hard cheeses under the agreement.
However, the deal does not include Alta-Dena’s six dairy farms or Stueve Natural raw-milk products. The state has named these products in some past recall orders after some batches showed traces of salmonella bacteria. The company has maintained that no one has suffered any ill effects from drinking the company’s raw milk.
Stueve said the company decided to sell its pasteurized products partly because the family wanted to concentrate on the Natural line.
About 100 employees work in the Stueve Natural operation.
“I’m getting too old, and I wanted to disburse it (the company),” he said. “I feel by consolidating, we can save money and not lower the quality. They (Zausner) feel the same way about quality.”
‘Big Advantage’
Stueve also said the company decided to sell its pasteurized operation because of competitive pressures. Stueve characterized the company’s 1988 revenue--$126 million--as large but said profit margins were thin. He said Zausner would distribute the Alta-Dena line more heavily. “We’re shipping to every state in the union and there’s a high freight cost,” he said. “The price (of dairy goods) is so low. The consumer has a big advantage in California. It’s very competitive.”
The prospective new owners of Alta-Dena, based in Newhall, Penn., own the Colombo Yogurt, Penguin Yogurt, Real Fresh Inc., Alouette Brand Cream Cheese, Kolb Lena and Major Smith labels. Bongrain, its parent, reported 1988 revenue of about $1.5 billion.
Larger dairy processors are faring better than smaller independent operations, according to Fred Douma, counsel for the Ontario-based Western United Dairymen. Douma said the three largest dairy processors in Southern California are owned by grocery store chains.
“They have the advantage of the economy and efficiency of size,” he said. “You can produce on a cheaper basis by maximizing capacity.”
