Lactalis USA, the world’s largest dairy company, announced the acquisition of General Mills’ U.S. yogurt business on Monday afternoon.
The acquisition includes approximately 1,000 employees and two manufacturing facilities, including the plant located in Reed City, Michigan. The other facility is in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Lactalis USA will also add the Yoplait® Go-Gurt®, Oui® Mountain High® and :ratio® businesses in the U.S. The acquired business will bring in approximately $1.2 billion in annual net sales and will operate as "Midwest Yogurt," a newly formed division based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
According to a press release by Lactalis, the company plans to invest significant resources in Midwest Yogurt employees, brands and manufacturing facilities to support the future growth of this new division.
"This acquisition advances our U.S. growth strategy and strengthens our position as an emerging leader in the U.S. yogurt market," Lactalis USA CEO Esteve Torrens said. "Incorporating the popular Yoplait brand into our house of U.S. dairy product brands will create important, new opportunities for growth and product innovation, as well as positive impacts for our customers, communities and employees."
Lactalis USA now employs approximately 5,000 people across 13 manufacturing facilities and has seven corporate offices in nine states. Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, the company has also acquired Sorrento Cheese (1992), Stonyfield (2017), siggi’s (2018), and Kraft Natural Cheese (2021).
Release information courtesy of Lactalis USA.