Hood drops organic farms
HP Hood has notified eight Maine organic dairy farms that it will not renew their milk contracts and has directed many of its remaining suppliers to cut production by 15%.
Weakening demand for organic milk triggered by the economic downturn and rising transportation costs led to Hood’s decision, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts company told the Bangor Daily News. The affected farmers’ contracts end between August 2009 and June 2010, and each was given at least six months’ notice. The move was a blow to Maine’s already struggling dairy industry, and follows a boom that saw Maine reach the country’s highest percentage of organic dairy farms compared with conventional farms, at 16% in 2006. The farms Hood is dropping are located in Aroostook and Washington counties, an area the company courted heavily when the organic boom was at its peak, the paper reported.
Hood sends Maine’s organic milk to New York to be processed and packaged, and then ships it back to Maine to be sold as Stonyfield Farm Organic Milk. Founded in 1846, HP Hood LLC is one of the country's largest branded dairy operators, with annual sales of $2.3 billion.
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