Competitive strategies of US fluid milk processors: A case study

Competitive strategies emphasized by the case firms will shape the restructuring of the US fluid milk industry. Case firms profited from employing the Beatrice Model for plant acquisitions. Dean Foods and Prairie Farms Dairy emerged from the 1980s as highly profitable firms and Borden's strategic moves promise to make that firm a formidable competitor in the dairy business in the 1990s. Cooperatives will have incentives to merge to countervail market power gained by investorowned firms and develop replacements for joint ventures entered into during the 1980s. Federal milk orders may require revisions to reflect expanded milk plant sales areas and cope with instability stemming from asset redeployment.