Oct. 12, 2021

Prairie Farms might not have drawn a lot of attention when it entered the Sioux Falls market last year – but the Illinois-based co-op is stepping up efforts to make itself more known.

Prairie Farms acquired part of Dean Foods last year, including the Sioux Falls processing facility at 1200 W. Russell St. that two decades prior was Land O’Lakes.

“The biggest difference I’ve seen is Prairie Farms really focuses on local. Everything they want to do is local,” said John Cooper, general manager in Sioux Falls, who has been in the dairy processing industry for 20 years.

“They’re very involved in the community. They do a ton of partnerships and community involvement and give each location the local authority to run their business and be very involved.”

The Sioux Falls facility, which runs 24 hours a day but not seven days a week, employs about 150 people.

“It’s a fluid processing plant, so we bring raw milk in, we process it, it goes through our filters and cooler, and into the marketplace for the consumer to purchase,” Cooper said.

The whole process, from farm to shelf, takes 48 hours, he said.

“So it’s a really good freshness story.”

The Sioux Falls facility produces white and chocolate milk as well as orange juice. It distributes to schools, colleges and hospitals in addition to retailers.

Other products such as cottage cheese, sour cream and ice cream are brought in from Prairie Farms sister locations regionwide. The co-op includes 800 dairy farmers.

“We buy from South Dakota farmers,” Cooper said. “There’s quite a few of them, some as close as 10 miles down the road. … Most of the dairy farms are owned and operated locally, many by members of the same family.”

While the Sioux Falls Prairie Farms operation has some openings in warehousing, overall staffing has been stable, he said.

“I’m very impressed with our management team,” he said. “They’ve done a good job keeping our jobs full.”

Local control helps, he added.

“We’re local, our decision-making is local. From my perspective, it’s like a big family … so that’s a high point for us in how we’re able to retain our people. We treat them the way they deserve to be treated, which is exceptionally well.”

Prairie Farms dairy products can be found nearly anywhere in the market dairy products are sold, he said. Holiday offerings from eggnog to custard and peppermint ice cream will be heading to the shelves this week.

The company also has launched a “Drink Local” campaign highlighting its relationship with local dairy farms and its local processing.

“We’ve got new signage on our building, and as we move forward, we’ll continue with a lot of business partnerships,” Cooper said, adding the co-op already has sponsored the Sioux Falls Canaries and Stampede and hosted a breakfast on the farm event.