Dean Foods and Hero Group partner in North America

The joint venture, based in Broomfield, Colorado, serves as a strategic growth platform for both companies to further extend their global reach by leveraging each other’s established innovation, technology, manufacturing and distribution capabilities.

“I look forward to the new opportunities the joint venture brings to both companies,” said Joseph E. Scalzo, President and CEO of WhiteWave Foods. “WhiteWave and Hero both enjoy a rich legacy of bringing innovative, healthy foods to consumers. We also share a common vision and commitment to innovation and proven brand leadership. Together, we’re ready to break the mold of similar goods currently on the U.S. market.”

“We believe that North America is ready for new, ground-breaking chilled fruit category innovations, and we have found the ideal partner with Dean Foods,” said Stefan F. Heidenreich, Hero Group CEO. “Dean’s WhiteWave division was a natural match for us because of our shared passion for providing innovative, nutritious products to consumers. We believe this partnership provides a compelling market opportunity.”

The first Hero/WhiteWave product, which is called Fruit2Day™, will be an innovative new healthy food product that offers consumers a surprising and convenient way to enjoy the goodness of fruit. Fruit2Day is a satisfying on-the-go chilled convenient fruit snack that offers a completely new way to experience fruit and helps consumers overcome common barriers to getting more fruit in their diets. It will be the first product of its kind in U.S. stores and has successfully launched and continues to grow in major European markets. Fruit2Day will be rolled out for nationwide distribution by mid-2009.