Winder Dairy is moo-vin' on up.
The 125-year old dairy announced plans Thursday to expand operations and products, thanks to a "substantial" investment from two Utah-based private investment firms: Dolphin II and Peterson Partners.
As a result of the new partnership, Winder also announced that two Dolphin executives — managing partner Eric Jacobsen and partner Mike Dutton — have joined the Winder executive team as chief executive officer and chief operating officer, respectively.
Dolphin II is a private equity firm with offices in Park City and Westport, Conn. Peterson is a Salt Lake-based firm best known for its early investment in JetBlue Airways.
Mike Winder, executive vice president of the dairy, said the new Winder/Dolphin management blend is the "perfect mix" of company stalwarts and new blood.
"We felt it was time to up it to the next level and take the company forward — to better products, better service and more customers served," Mike Winder said. "The Dolphin and Peterson groups were about more than just the money. Their emphasis was on partnering with us to achieve our goals. That's what separated them and made them stand out from the others."
Based in West Valley City, the company delivers dairy and other grocery products to about 17,000 residential customers and businesses throughout Utah — from north of Brigham City, down through the Wasatch Front to St. George.
The new partnership, and the resulting capital infusion, will allow Winder to upgrade its infrastructure and broaden its footprint, Jacobsen said. But in the short term, he said Winder's focus will be on existing operations.
"We want to make sure that we are properly and adequately serving all of our existing customers, including customer service staffing levels and drivers," Jacobsen said. "That's our plan for the next six to nine months."
In that time, Winder also will begin expanding its product line, Mike Winder said. Customer surveys indicate a desire for fresh fruits and juices, baked goods and vegetables.
"We're envisioning delivering all the good, wholesome, 'down-on-the-farm' freshness right to people's doors," he said.
In the long term, Jacobsen said Winder believes it can double or even triple the number of households served within its existing service area. Beyond that, Jacobsen said Winder will look at increasing its service radius as far away as Las Vegas.
"We looked at the company and saw 125 years," Jacobsen said. "It's very well-known and very well-respected. We looked at it and saw a wonderful opportunity to bring in outside management expertise to create efficiencies, to expand the customer base and to deliver more products and services. We saw great potential for a company that we believe can be much better, much bigger and much broader.
"We're getting ready for the next 125 years."
E-mail: jnii@desnews.com