Northwest Dairy Association (formerly the Northwest Dairymen's Association; trading as Darigold, Inc.) is an American

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

agricultural marketing cooperative. Headquartered in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, it is owned by about 350 dairy farm members of the association located in Washington,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, and

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

History

The cooperative was founded in 1918 as the United Dairymen's Association, and it bought the Consolidated Dairy Products Company in 1930. A contest among dairy families produced the cooperative's brand name, "Darigold" in 1920. In 1999, the cooperative, in an effort to improve its marketing position, changed its name to Northwest Dairy Association, while changing the corporate name to WestFarm Foods. In 2006, the corporate name returned to Darigold. In 2010, the cooperative merged with the Montana dairy cooperative Country Classic. The co-op's annual sales are over $2.0 billion, and production is over of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

a year. In August 2003, Darigold locked out their union in one production facility. Workers in that facility continue to be represented by a union, as are employees in most Darigold production facilities. In June 2021, Darigold announced plans to build a multi-million production facility in

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023. Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...

, that represents significant investment in climate-friendly modernization. In 2022, the co-op shared details of a leadership transition with Stan Ryan, its CEO of six years, announcing his retirement and Darigold executive Joe Coote named CEO.

References

External links

* Food and drink companies based in Washington (state) Manufacturing companies based in Seattle Agriculture in Oregon Economy of the Northwestern United States Dairy products companies of the United States Agricultural cooperatives in the United States Agricultural marketing cooperatives 1918 establishments in Washington (state) Food and drink companies established in 1918 American companies established in 1918 Dairy cooperatives Cooperatives based in Washington {{Food-company-stub