Oakhurst Dairy

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Oakhurst Dairy
legal form cooperative
founding 1918
Seat Portland , Maine , United StatesUnited StatesUnited States 
management John H. Bennett (President)
Number of employees 200
sales 110 million US dollars
Branch Agriculture, food production
Website http://www.oakhurstdairy.com
Status: 2015

Oakhurst Dairy

Oakhurst Dairy is an American dairy company based in Portland , Maine . The corporate form is that of a cooperative .

The company's first predecessor was a dairy farm founded in 1902 by Arthur Leadbetter in Portland. The company's name was changed to Oakhurst in 1918. In 1921 Stanley Bennett, who had been managing director since 1920, bought the farm including the dairy. The transaction was funded by a local businessman named Nathan Cushman. The milk was delivered in two horse-drawn tours that year. By 1923 there were twelve tours and by 1929 the milk collection had grown to 28.

In the first few years, efforts were made to maintain higher quality standards than the competition. On the part of the dairy, not only the production facilities but also the stables of the milk suppliers were frequently checked. In 1933, Oakhurst Dairy was the first American dairy to test milk for tuberculosis pathogens.

In the 1940s, attempts were made to become independent from wholesaling and supplied schools, supermarkets and the local hospital directly. In 1941 the Benett family took over all company shares. In 1954 the production capacity was increased to 40,000 liters per day, which corresponded to a tripling of the previous plant capacity.

For cost reasons, the supply of milk to private households was discontinued in 1976. In 1977 Sanford Dairy was taken over. This takeover from other smaller dairy companies followed over the next 15 years. Fitzpatrick Dairy, a smaller dairy, filed an antitrust case against Oakhurts-Dairy. In 1990, the previous owner of Fitzpatrick Dairy was awarded $ 1.9 million in compensation.

In 2003, Monsanto sued the dairy company because of the advertising statement on the milk cartons: "Our farmer's pledge: no artificial hormones used" (German: "Our farmer's promise: no artificial hormones"). The statement referred to the fact that Oakhurst's suppliers were prohibited from using beef somatotropin (rBST), a hormone supplement developed and sold by Monsanto to increase milk yield. Monsanto argued that this statement would affect its business as it would imply that milk without rBST would be more valuable. The proceedings were ended in an out-of-court settlement. Oakhurst acknowledged that the FDA did not see any qualitative difference between milk treated and non-rBST treated cows. It also undertook to dispense with the word "used" in the statement in future.

In January 2014, the operations of Dairy Farmers of America , the largest dairy company in the United States, were taken over.

In addition to milk, butter, sour cream and cheese, the company also offers juices, iced tea, egg liqueur and water.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Oakhurst Dairy (page 1) . BNET.com. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  2. ↑ a b c d Oakhurst Dairy (page 2) . BNET. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  3. ↑ a b Sour Grapes Over Milk Labeling . Wired Magazine. September 16, 2003. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved on February 25, 2011.
  4. ↑ Common dreams report , archive link
  5. ↑ Maine's Oakhurst Dairy sold to farmer cooperative Portland Press Herald, Jan. 31, 2014
  6. ↑ Products on oakhurstdairy.com; accessed on February 4, 2019


Coordinates: 43 ° 39 ′ 50 ″  N , 70 ° 16 ′ 26.1 ″  E