PET Dairy High Point at 1350 W. Fairfield Road was previously known as Dairy Fresh until it was acquired by Dairy Farmers of America, or DFA, last year. A national cooperative based in Kansas that’s owned by more than 12,500 dairy farmers, DFA bought 44 properties previously owned by Dean Foods for $443 million in May 2020.

The sale included the PET Dairy brand and the production plant in High Point and one in Winston-Salem, both of which make PET milk and other dairy products. The management teams that were in place at both facilities continue to handle day-to-day operations, and all employees were retained, according to DFA.

The High Point plant currently employs 85 people.

The cooperative announced last week that “because of the new ownership, consumers will start to see more products from regional milk brand PET Dairy on store shelves, instead of Dean Foods products.”

PET Dairy processes more than 125 million gallons of milk per year that is sourced from local dairy farmers from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia to make its milk and other dairy products, which are then delivered to more than 1,000 retail stores in the Carolinas, southern Virginia and eastern Georgia.

The High Point plant has produced the PET Dairy brand since 2005, when it was acquired by Dean Foods.

Before that, it was known as Superbrand Dairy and was a subsidiary of supermarket chain Winn-Dixie, which closed it in 2005.

In addition to PET Dairy products, the plant produces TruMoo, which is also a brand of DFA, as well as several private-label products for various retail and food service customers.

pkimbrough@hpenews.com — 336-888-3531

Pat Kimbrough, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.