Have an inside source. Wells Enterprises in Le Mars, Iowa is very interested in some Deans ICE CREAM plants. Talks are ongoing behind the scenes. Their goal is to overtake NESTLE as number 1 in the world.
Bad News also from SOURCE. They are NOT interested in the Le Mars milk plant they once sold to Deans. They want nothing to do with milk industry.
Again. My source is a corporate insider for WELLS.
what about the other DF ice cream businesses?
Wells is OUT. No interest in Le Mars plant. 100 percent confirmed from my corporate insider at Wells
What is Wells saying now?
Whats going to happen with the FL Plants? Should I start looking for another job?
anything new from Wells trying to buy Dean Ice Cream?
nestle owns 45% of Franeri which is a joint venture that operates in Europe, they swallowed Nestle US and their playbook has been aggressively expand via M&A and organically
Also implies that company that bought the U.S. ice cream operations from Nestle saw that as a better deal then buying the Dean Foods plants.
Doesn't that article indicate Nestle got smaller? Article is about how they sold their U.S. ice cream business to another company.
Nestle just got bigger see news today - Wells will need to buy Dean to keep pace?
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/nestle-to-sell-u.s.-ice-cream-business-to-froneri-in-%244-bln-deal-2019-12-11
does Wells want to own all of Dean Foods Ice Cream plants? Any that they don't want?
Nope. WELLS has a full fleet of trucks through Schuster who deliver NATIONWIDE. They also will keep the drivers at the plants they buy to deliver local and stateside.
Another bad thing about that Nestle division is that Nestle doesn't have delivery drivers anymore. Nestle let them all go everything now is in house from the warehouse and then the grocery stores will pick it up by with their own trucks. I guess that means that if these guys do by the ice cream division that ice cream drivers will be let go because they won't be using them anymore the port from the warehouse I'm thinking I could be wrong
I get a coffee/smoke break every 45 minutes here at Le Mars plant. I can gossip all I want. My information is factual from my insider at corporate. Btw. We have a palletizing robot here as well that is down half the time. Because Brian Bruns and these maintenance guys are too lazy to fix it right.
High tech production lines...then why the hell are they interested in anything at Dean Foods. Can't say I've been in an ice cream plant in about 10 years, but been in many other plants and Dean Foods idea of high tech was to put in a robot here and there where robots could be used. They then used those robots as an excuse to get rid of people. Now the robots are old and poorly maintained and down over half the time and temp labor does the robot work. Outside of outdated 1990s robot technology, most of the rest of the Dean Foods tech is from the 50s and 60s.
Go back to work! Stop gossiping while I’m paying in you to do a job!
The fieldbrook sake and halo top info is online for more research. I do not know full specifics. I just have a source who passes morsels to me. My source is just an office rep and does not get to sit in on full meetings. Just wait and see. But, I do know. Wells is a hell of a company to work full. Excellent benefits.
And 100 plus year old company. Company here for another 100 years. Just built a mansion of a corporate office that overlooks Le Mars and massive, high tech production lines. With over 2,000 employees.
does Wells want to own all three of Dean's ice cream brands? Friendly's in the Northeast, Mayfield in the south, Dean's Country fresh in the Midwest?
Details regarding purchase price and specific locations will come out in court if a tentative deal is reached. Remember we're at the stage where Dean Foods can recommend sales of specific assets to specific buyers, but those recommendations have to be approved by the court.
Any idea how much they could pay for them? They did just buy Fieldbrook Farms, Halo Top, and a Nevada plant from Unilever.
I am unsure of which locations. They are looking to take over NESTLE as number 1. They are looking for profitable plants with that are low cost to obtain is all I know. My source did not have any more details. Just was able to confirm no interest in Le Mars milk plant and in discussions for ICE CREAM only.
Apologies – when I said “it” I was referring to the Dean ice cream business. I heard Wells tried to buy the Dean ice cream business last year but Dean wanted too much money. You said some of the ice cream plants; any idea which? Would they take Birmingham, for example?
Your source is wrong. My source works in corporate. Specifically said” NO INTEREST in Dean Foods Le Mars”. “Want nothing to do with the milk industry”.
They are looking at ICE CREAM plants only and those that can be had cheap yet efficient. Once they are purchased. They will send supervisors and managers to train the employees “The WELLS way of doing things. To meet standards and cleanliness)”.
That is what they did with the Fieldbrook foods plant they bought in New York.
My source says Wells tried to buy it earlier in the year and the talks fell through... Does Wells want to buy all of Dean foods ice cream or just specific plants? which plants do they want?
Very legit. Wells is currently number 2 in the world. They purchased a plant in New York and Nevada in the last year. Including rights to Halo Top brand. They are also working on getting exposure into Canada.