Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Baton Rouge-based Kleinpeter Farms Dairy is packaging and distributing the milk of a one-time competitor whose dairy plant was destroyed by an explosion.
The agreement between Kleinpeter and Mount Hermon-based Smith Creamery was announced Monday. Smith Creamery's milk, half and half and heavy cream products will arrive in supermarkets Tuesday.
Under the arrangement, Smith Creamery products will be sold at the 50 stores across southeastern Louisiana where they were stocked before the June explosion shuttered the facility -- but new stores also will be added.
The families running both companies have been friends for a decade. Jeff Kleinpeter, president of Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, says he's hoping the Smiths will rebuild their plant. Michelle Hickman, with Smith Creamery, says the arrangement will give the creamery time to decide its future plans.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
