Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders Elect Directors, Officers
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) —, A meeting of the nation’s
most articulate and powerful dairy
leaders convened last week at the
Dairy Futures Conference in the
Days Inn to forge a unified Pen
nsylvania stance against the snow
balling departure of the local dairy
industry. And not a bit too soon
either.
With the Southeast Already
showing a hugh deficit in milk pro
duction and the Northeast produc
ing enough for fluid consumption
but woefully lacking in total needs,
the industry is poised to send the
returning citrus concentrate trans
port tankers on up into Canada to
tap into that nation’s milk supply
located just above Vermont and
New York states.
Monte Hemenover, director of
industry affairs, Protiva, a unit of
Monsanto, one of the keynote
speakers said the way things are
going, it’s only a matter of time
until this happens if things don’t
turn around.
And while this is going on, the
industry is lacking in creative
advertising found in the beer indus
try (frogs and lizards) and in pric
ing of “lite” products (same
industry).
Lite beer is sold for a premium
or the company’s other products
are raised in price to met the life
product’s price with the consumer
left to make the choice. On the
other hand, skim milk is dis
counted and whole milk is sold at a
premium. In a local State College
grocery store visited by the speaker
when he got into town, whole milk
was mi sale at $2.69, two percent
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Middletown, PA 17057
was $2.41, one percent was $2.28,
and skim was $2.21.
"The consumer already values
cheese higher than milk," Heme
nover said. "With cheese priced at
$3.49 a pound and 10 pounds of
milk needed to make one pound of
cheese, this sets the consumer
retail price of the milk in cheese at
$34.90 per hundred pound. Until
milk sells at $3.00 a gallon, it is not
selling at the same value as cheese.
“We all depend on the cow. One
cow means $7,903 at the retail
level. That’s what she is generating
in the food chain. When we look at
the 644,000 dairy cows in Pennsyl
vania that’s a five billion dollar
industry. You add New York state,
and we have a geographic area the
size of Wisconsin, and we have a
$10.6 billion industry. Our hats arc
off to the dairy stakeholders here
who are facing reality and are mak
ing an effort to take care of
business.”
Hemenover said the industry
runs on perceptions and myths that
aren’t true. While the dairy indus
try is not on the rise like the com
munications industry, it is not
dead. Actually, the commercial
disappearance of milk has
increased each year from 1992 to
19%. And since the 1985 farm lull
that set the direction for farm sup
port programs, the surplus has dis
appeared, and consumption has
caught up with production. Not
many industries can say that over
die last 16 years they have seen a
31 percent increase in commercial
disappearance of their products.
This is a growth of which the dairy
industry can be proud.
"I don’t like to see milk used as a
loss leader in the stores. But our
PA Dairy Stakeholders
□ Individual
□ Corporate
n J?!5. new, y • lecle< * oncers of Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders, Inc. are from left,
Pmi Kimmel, president, Betty Relbson, secretary/lreasurer, and Lew Gardner, vice
president.
business is dependent on these
stores, and we need to understand
how they operate and how we are
going to market our product
“I’m optimistic about die daily
industry. There will be shifts in
where milk is produced and there
will be mergers, consolidations,
and acquisitions just like in any
other industry,” Hcmenover said.
“But we have a tremendous oppor
tunity. Just think what a little crea
tive thought could do for our indus
try. What if we made a grilled
cheese sandwich for the fast food
industry. All we need to do is fig
ure out how to make it look as good
after it sits four minutes as it does
when it first comes off the grill. We
need to plan for the success of the
dairy industry.”
A new trend in food distribution
has emerged. Dr. John Lord, pro
fessor and chairman of the food
marketing department at Saint
Joseph’s University, said that in
the past people came to the food.
Today marketers are bringing the
food to where the people are
located. More and more restaurants
are selling take-out foods. Super
markets are offering prepared
foods. People are looking for food
any time, any place.
Lord also sees consumers look
ing more and more to the kitchen
cabinet rather than the medicine
cabinet for good health. The food
marketing industry has moved
from trying to take out fat and
cholesterol, the avoidance beha
vior, to fortification of foods, put
ting in nutritional and health
ingredients.
In addition, one company has
created a diet that is specifically
helpful to people with high blood
pressure. The customer pays a
weekly fee and receives by UPS 21
meals and additional snacks ready
to go. This promotion combines
the trends to make meals you don’t
have to plan and yet you are eating
healthy. Many finds that in the
past were only in health food stores
are now in the supermarkets.
But the health line is somewhat
blurred. People want their food to
taste good. They want to eat low
fist, but it better taste good. Health
vs. indulgence is seen in many
households that eat both fat and
lean.
And the trend into the future will
be for consumers to buy meals, not
ingredients. They will want more
prepared foods, some to be eaten in
the store and some to be taken
home. More food shoppers will
want someone to do the planning of
the meals for them, and they will
continue to want all the work and
effort taken from meal preparation.
Yet they also will want more infor
mation on health and nutrition and
how to prepare foods in case they
want to indulge themselves on a
Sunday evening family meal pre
pared at home.
Lord believes the dairy industry
needs to move to flavored milk
drinks, special packaging to put
milk in the hand and in the auto.
“Make the product fun and conve
nient to get,” Lord said. “Put milk
in a six-pack carrier where people
can get it.”
The conference was sponsored
by the Pennsylvania Dairy Stake
holders whoever the last five years
has been working toward a unified
consortium of all segments of the
dairy industry to save the local
dairy farms. A historic event
unfolded as the 120 attendees vot
ed to accept a set of by-laws that
give purpose and powers to what
had been an evolving group of
industry leaders with high stakes in
the continuing viability of the dairy
industry in Pennsylvania.
Along with the new by-laws, a
slate of directors and officers were
No Tobacco Auction
Until Jan. 5
PARADISE (Lancaster Co.)
Because of a hick of orders from
companies that buyers deal with,
there will be no tobacco auction
here until Monday, Jan. S.
According to Mitch White of the
auction, there was no sale Monday,
Wednesday, or Friday this week.
The warehouse remains full at
580,000 pounds and they cannot
accept any more tobacco until it is
installed. The officers are Phil
Kimmel, president; Betty Reibson,
secretary/treasurer, and Lew Gard
ner, vice president
Directors are. three-year terms,
Earl Fink, PA Assn, of Milk Deal
ers; Dean Giiton, Girlon Manufac
turing Co., Inc.; Gary Heckman,
Cenex Cooperative: Joel Rotz, PA
Farm Bureau; and Richard Way
bright Mason Dixon Farms.
Two-year terms, Lewis Gard
ner, Milk Marketing, Inc.; Ralph
Heffner, Agway, Inc.; Beverly
Minor, PA Milk Marketing Board;
and Betty Reibson, Sullivan Coun
ty Commissioner.
One-year terms, Phil Kimmel,
Keystone Farm Credit; Dave
McCorklc, PA Food Merchants
Assoc.; Ivo Otto, Land O’Lakes;
and Paul Semmel. PA State
Representative.
The yearly membership dues
structure includes an individual or
dairy hum category of $25. Com
mercial companies and organiza
tions have yearly dues of $lOO to
$l,OOO, the amount to be self
determined by the member. A copy
of the membership application
form with this story may be com
pleted and sent with your check to
PA Dairy Stakeholders, c Jo Alan
Bair, Penn State Harrisburg, 777
W. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown,
PA 17057.
sold in January.
While the tobacco quality will
remain the same, some of it, stored
so long, will lose weight The auc
tion house is not bested and
remains cold in the winter.
The companies that buy the
tobacco ate waiting to see what
happens to the Kentucky and Ten
nessee markets and are looldng at
demand.