From 1 January 2010, Cropp will manage the organic milk supply for Stonyfield fluid milk products and invite the farmers producing that milk into Cropp Cooperative. It will also license the Stonyfield fluid milk brand and oversee its sales and retail distribution.
For more than 11 years, Cropp has supplied the organic milk for all other Stonyfield products. The addition of the fluid milk business builds on this partnership.
Stonyfield will continue to build and promote its fluid milk brand via its marketing and consumer-based initiatives. HP Hood, which had been managing the milk supply for the Stonyfield brand, will continue as the primary processor of that milk.
“Key to this strategy is the partnering of Cropp, Stonyfield and Hood to produce a quality product, while also focusing on helping family farmers preserve their livelihood,” said Stonyfield Farm president and CEO, Gary Hirshberg. “Our goal is to maximise each of the partner companies’ strengths while working to create a greater market for the organic milk produced by family farmers.”
“This broader partnership with Stonyfield keeps organic farmers organic, keeps organic land organic, helps keep toxins out of our bodies and our earth, and gives retailers and consumers a much needed alternative,” said Cropp Cooperative CEO, George Siemon. “In more than 20 years in business, we’ve seen the overall dairy supply go up and down many times, but our confidence in the organic way has never changed.”
This arrangement doesn’t impact the availability of the brands’ current product offerings and hopefully will help increase its availability in new markets. It also doesn’t affect the pay price or hinder future growth opportunities for any of the 1,333 current members of Cropp cooperative.
The farmers currently producing milk for the Stonyfield brand will have several options moving forward. These include continuing to supply for the Stonyfield brand through the remainder of their current contract, applying for membership with Cropp Cooperative or seeking another market for their milk.
Source: Stonyfield Farm
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