A year of acquisitions in the U.S. market has helped lead Quebec dairy foods co-operative Agropur to record sales and net earnings.
The co-operative on Wednesday reported sales of $3.1 billion in its fiscal year ending Oct. 31, 2009, producing earnings of $138 million before patronage dividends. That’s up from earnings of $121.3 million on sales of $2.8 billion in fiscal 2008.
The co-op’s cross-border shopping in fiscal 2009 included Schroeder Milk, in Minnesota, in December 2008; Farmland Dairies’ UHT-milk processing plant at Grand Rapids, Mich., in September 2009; and the Green Meadows Foods cheese plant at Hull, Iowa, in December 2009.
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Agropur’s operations outside Canada now represent an estimated $750 million to $800 million in annual sales, or about a quarter of the co-operative’s revenues, according to CEO Pierre Claprood.
“According to our forecasts, in 2010, our U.S. cheese facilities should produce 50 per cent more cheese than our Canadian cheese plants, and twice as much within a few years,” he said.
Chairman Serge Riendeau said Agriopur is “well positioned to take advantage of global growth in the dairy sector, and is taking steps to establish solid foundations both at home and abroad.”
The co-op, which has 3,533 members, now employs 5,225 people at 27 plants and a number of distribution centres and offices across Canada, the U.S. and Argentina.
Agropur produces an estimated 3.1 billion litres of milk per year and markets dairy products under brand names such as Quebon, Oka, Sealtest, Natrel, Island Farms, Yoplait, La Lacteo, Trega and Schroeder.
