Dairies Will Consolidate Operations Broadview, Darigold Agreement Will Increase Efficiency, Reduce Jobs
Broadview Dairy and Darigold Inc. announced a plan Wednesday to consolidate their Spokane processing plants in order to cut production and distribution costs.
Though customers won’t see a difference at the grocery stores, the two companies say they will save money and stay competitive by using only one plant for processing. The merger would increase the plant’s volume by as much as 200 percent, the companies claim.
Spokane-based Broadview Dairy, which is owned by Goodale & Barbieri Cos., will be the majority owner and operations manager of the new processor, which will be known as Inland Northwest Dairies, L.L.C. The location of the consolidated plant has yet to be determined.
Though Broadview and Darigold will share a plant, their products will be processed and packaged separately. “Darigold milk will be supplied by Darigold farms completely,” said R. Steve Harper, Darigold’s vice-president of consumer products.
Broadview Dairy, 100 years old this year, operates from a production plant at 411 W. Cataldo. Darigold’s plant is at 33 E. Francis.
The operations merger, which both companies expect to finalize by Sept. 1, will eliminate an undetermined number of jobs at Darigold but none at Broadview, company officials said.
“The new operation is going to need experienced employees, and we are encouraging Darigold’s people to apply,” said Art Coffey, vice president and chief operating officer of Inland Northwest Dairies Inc., a subsidiary of Goodale & Barbieri Cos.
While some jobs will be lost, the new operation will be good news for area dairy farmers who will enjoy wider distribution, said Harper.
“For the dairy farmers in the region, this is a breath of life,” said Dick Ziehnert, a farmer with the cooperative.
Broadview recently went through a bitter contract dispute with Teamsters Union Local No. 582. After a 13-week strike, during which many workers crossed the picket line, the union conceded in January 1996 to Broadview’s terms, which included a pay cut and a profit-sharing bonus.
Darigold, the largest milk company in the Pacific Northwest, also employs Teamsters in Spokane and is currently working on a new labor contract for a portion of its union-member employees. Darigold, which was started in 1918 by Puget Sound dairy farmers, is now cooperatively owned by 925 family farms.
The combined company will distribute both Broadview and Darigold products throughout all of Central and Eastern Washington.
Seattle-based Darigold operates 10 other processing plants and 15 sales distribution branches in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California.
, DataTimes