Santa Clara, CA September 10, 2001 The ecFood division of ecIndustries, a provider of Web-based sourcing solutions, recently announced that it purchased Master Dairies Inc, a buying group representing eight member companies operating 27 processing plants throughout the United States and Canada. The purchase of Master Dairies will bring annual revenues of $125 million to ecFood and provide the member companies of Master Dairies with online purchasing services designed specifically for the food and beverage industry.
"Master Dairies' mission has been to combine its members' purchasing power to obtain efficient and competitive pricing for good and services," said There du Pont, Master Dairies' board of director of and vice president of Wawa Inc. "ecFood is a recognized expert and having them buy our group is a progressive business decision, which will bring the rapid adoption of online purchasing to our members. "
Founded 36 years ago, Master Dairies' current membership includes Anderson Erickson Dairy Co., Borden Dairy, Wawa Inc., Shamrock Foods, Wessanen USA Dairies, Marcus Dairy, Southern Belle Dairy Co., and Wilcox Farms. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., the Master Dairies buying group will source food ingredients, direct materials and packaging using ecFood's online sourcing and specification management tools. The items will include vanilla, orange juice concentrate, fruit drink bases, fuel, milk cartons, cleaning chemicals, laboratory supplies, shrink film and many other direct and indirect materials.
"The purchase of Master Dairies further advances ecFood's strategy to focus on bringing e-commerce and e-sourcing to middle market companies, food manufacturers and processors," said Dave Laukat, CEO of ecFood. "ecFood is continually refining its professional services and increasing the variety of items sourced through our site. With this purchase, ecFood will rapidly increase its revenue stream while expanding its customer base. We anticipate bringing greater business opportunity to the benefit of both buyers and suppliers."
ecFood currently provides online transaction and membership based group buying services to over 40 industry leaders from several segments of the food industry. These segments include major consumer brand manufacturers, processing manufacturers, bakeries, dairies, foodservice, retailers, cooperatives and buying groups. These customers have effectively adapted ecFood's online and off-line sourcing services to meet a variety of purchasing challenges. The services offered by ecFood include demand aggregation, specification management, auctions, request for purchase and request for quote.
