SmithFoods is a regional maker of dairy products, beverages, and

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

headquartered in

Orrville, Ohio Orrville is a city in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. It is about east of Wooster, Ohio, Wooster and southwest of Akron, Ohio, Akron. The population was 8,452 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Micropolitan stat ...

.Bentayou, Frank
"Smith's, the dairy in the country, goes green"
''Cleveland Plain Dealer'', 2008-10-19. Retrieved on 2009-01-26. The company sells products under two major brands, Smith's and Ruggles, as well as

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

brands, for both retail and wholesale distribution.Phillips, David
“Plant Feature: The Home of Ruggles”
, ''Dairy Field'', 2006-05-01. The company has two plants: one in Orrville, Ohio, and the other in

Richmond, Indiana Richmond () is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana, United States. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,720. It is the principal c ...

, and products include

cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavour and a creamy, heterogeneous, soupy texture, made from skimmed milk. An essential step in the manufacturing process distinguishing cottage cheese from other fresh cheeses is the additio ...

sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...

and dips, iced teas, juices, and punches, in addition to milk and ice cream.

History

Brothers John and Peter Schmid bought a small dairy farm on the first day of 1909. The operation initially consisted of two horses, two wagons, a hand-cranked ice cream maker, and a five-gallon freezer that used ice cut from a nearby pond in winter. The name changed several times in the early years, but the company would eventually be known as Smith Dairy. The Dairy made key operational advancements in the 1920s. One such innovation, mechanical refrigeration, allowed the dairy to expand and make ice cream a larger part of the business. Smith Dairy incorporated in 1930. During the 1930s, the company replaced its horse-drawn wagons with trucks for home delivery, and in 1938 the dairy purchased its first gas-electric hybrid delivery truck. In 1947, Smith Dairy became a member of Quality Chekd, a dairy trade organization that uses third-party testing and audits to assure quality and food safety above governmental regulations. Smith Dairy modernized its operations in the 1950s, when the first cooling tank for storing milk was installed; the company's first conveyor system brought automation to the plant. The 1960s and 1970s were decades of advancement and growth for Smith Dairy, which became one of the first in the industry to make its own plastic jugs. The company purchased four dairies during this period, allowing it to expand its service into additional communities. In the 1980s, the company began its third generation of family leadership. Smith Dairy purchased the Ruggles ice cream brand in 1988 from the original owners, Herb and Anne Ruggles, which led to the opening of a new ice cream plant in 1989. As part of the plant's grand opening celebration, Smith Dairy made and served the largest milkshake on record, earning a place in that year's edition of ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

''. In 1992, the company moved into new offices and distribution center. The acquisition of Wayne Dairy in Richmond, Indiana, in 1994 would enable Smith Dairy to process milk with extended

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

. This would lead to the 1998 introduction of Moovers, the nation's first UHT single-serve milk in

plastic bottle A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo or milk. They range in sizes, from very ...

s. Smith Dairy introduced its Yellow Super Jug for Smith's milk in 1999. Since natural and fluorescent light degrades the flavor and vitamin content of milk, Smith Dairy chose to use opaque yellow plastic packaging to protect its milk from harmful light oxidation. , Smith Dairy has more than 450 associates. It processes an average of 100,000 gallons of milk daily and sells over 4 million gallons of ice cream annually. In July 2020, SmithFoods issued a nationwide recall of product it manufactured for ALDI. FDA
"SmithFoods Inc. Issues Allergy Alert on Undeclared Cashew Allergen in Earth Grown Vegan Non Dairy Almond Based Frozen Desserts"
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References

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External links

Smith Dairy Products Company official website
Dairy products companies of the United States Ice cream brands Food and drink companies based in Ohio Richmond, Indiana Wayne County, Ohio

History

See also

References

External links