Established in 1999 as the result of a successful merger of three prominent California dairy processing cooperatives, California Dairies, Inc.®, is a milk marketing and processing cooperative co-owned by nearly 300 dairy families.
Our independent, family-owned member dairies are located throughout California’s rural landscape from San Diego County in the south to Sacramento County in the north. With 100 percent of our member dairies located within 100 miles of a CDI manufacturing facility or one of our customer’s creameries, our member-owners’ fresh, raw milk is transformed into a variety of high-quality dairy products within 24 hours of arrival.
As a leading manufacturer of butter, milk powder, nutritional milk powder, and fluid milk products, we only use high-quality, simple ingredients in our products. We make it our responsibility to profitably market, process and add value to our members’ milk while remaining committed to our core values in providing our consumers and customers with wholesome products.
At CDI, we believe that we are stronger together: on-farm and at the processing facility. Through the partnership with our member-owners, we work concertedly to ensure the production of safe, healthy, and nutritious dairy products for our customers and consumers.
“As a member-owner of CDI, I value the fact that my milk is marketed into the best products available in a profitable manner every day of the year. We are stronger together, and our management and staff work daily to utilize progressive strategies to maximize the returns back to our member-owners.”
Dairyman, Member-Owner
Chairman, CDI Board of Directors
“At CDI, our mission is to profitably market, process, and add value to our members’ milk. As a leading dairy cooperative, we have strong board governance and an experienced leadership team well-positioned to capture exciting future opportunities that will help us continue to grow our business and return more value to our member-owners.”
California Dairies, Inc.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Challenge Dairy Products, led by the Consumer Products Group, is primarily focused on butter, supported by a strong food service business and two heritage retail brands: Challenge and Danish Creamery.
California Dairies, Inc.’s Ingredients Group, DairyAmerica markets milk powders throughout the United States. Internationally, DairyAmerica handles approximately 50 percent of all milk powder produced in the United States and exports milk powder to over 50 countries worldwide.
