Novi, MI—Michigan Milk Producers Assocation (MMPA) on Monday announced that it will acquire Superior Dairy, Canton, OH, a subsidiary of LEL Operating Company.
Under the terms of the acquisition, all of LEL Operating Company’s subsidiaries — Superior Dairy, Creative Edge Design Group, Ltd., and LEL Logistics, Inc. — will become wholly owned subsidiaries of MMPA, effective Dec. 31, 2021.
Ultimately, the new organization will launch a multi-state dairy manufacturing and innovation campus with four facilities in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, employ a team of over 625 individuals, and service dairy farmers across the Great Lakes region.
Founded in 1922, Superior Dairy is best known for providing fluid milk products, cottage cheese, sour cream, ice cream and chip dip. Since Superior Dairy private labels for many of its customers, many consumers enjoy its products without necessarily knowing the Superior name, the company noted.
Creative Edge Design Group is the strategic think tank, research and development arm of LEL Operating Company. LEL Logistics addresses the transportation needs of the company’s customers and enables Superior Dairy to expand the geographic reach of its products, which are now available in 44 states.
Building on the strong partnership developed between MMPA and Superior Dairy over the years, the acquisition will bring greater innovation, product diversity and efficiencies to the marketplace, according to the announcement. With Superior Dairy under its umbrella, MMPA said it will be able to provide a greater focus on go-to-market strategies more quickly than operating individually to meet the needs of customers and consumers while continuing to support farmers, employees and other stakeholders.
“MMPA’s relationship with Superior Dairy has accelerated over the last six years and we have mutually benefitted from our partnership. Bringing Superior Dairy into the MMPA family will enable us to better tap into their wealth of product development experience to bring value-added processing capacity for our dairy farmer members,” said Joe Diglio, MMPA’s president and CEO.
“Our partnership with MMPA and their members’ exceptional quality milk has been an integral part of our growth. By taking advantage of our combined manufacturing assets, we will continue our trajectory and the opportunities that this collaboration enables,” said Greg Soehnlen, president and CEO of Superior Dairy, Inc. and LEL Operating Company.
“The acquisition of Superior Dairy demonstrates how MMPA dairy farmer member-owners are committed to investing in innovation and technology for their future. This move ensures there is a reliable outlet for our farmers’ milk while securing their future within the dairy community,” said Doug Chapin, board chairman of MMPA and a dairy farmer.
Both MMPA and Superior Dairy have long histories of supplying milk and milk products to consumers and are strategically aligned on their vision for the future.
To generate long-term success for both organizations, the acquisition agreement provides for the repurposing and reutilization of each organization’s resources and current manufacturing facilities to better serve MMPA and Superior Dairy’s needs more collaboratively.
Founded in 1916, MMPA serves dairy farmers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, handling approximately 5 billion pounds of milk annually. MMPA operates two manufacturing plants in Michigan and a cheese plant in Middlebury, IN.
