United purchases Fike's Dairy
UNIONTOWN -- A business that has served the local community for more than 90 years has been sold.
R. Bruce Fike & Sons Dairy in Uniontown, which dubbed itself the largest, most modern fluid milk, juice, iced tea and ice cream manufacturer in southwestern Pennsylvania, was sold to United Dairy Inc. of Martin's Ferry, Ohio. The sale was effective on Feb. 29.
United Dairy, which also has manufacturing facilities in Charleston, W.Va., is a private family business whose ownership resides in the Tri-State area, according to a press release issued this week. The company also operates branches in Latrobe, northeastern Ohio and Fairmont, W.Va.
Fike's was a division of Protein Dairies of Portland, Maine, and serves customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Fike's also provides ice cream mix for local Dairy Queen stores and McDonald's warehouses in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Fike's makes various juices, including orange juice from concentrate, and its own brand of regular and diet iced tea from flavoring.
Fike's hard ice cream is produced mostly out-of-state by Michigan-based House of Flavors, a large private-label manufacturer. The solid ice cream serves many Foodland and other private label brands.
Fike's Dairy began an ambitious expansion in 1997 with the acquisition of Ambridge-based Taylor Milk Co. Two years later, Fike's expanded in the soft-serve ice cream business, fueled by a $1.7 million expansion project that included a new production line.
"United considers the acquisition of Fike's as an opportunity to increase its market base for all its dairy products, especially milk and ice cream, as well as creating synergies with its current business," the release stated.
The raw milk that supplied Fike's Dairy came from more than 300 independent farms located in Pennsylvania, western Maryland, northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio.
According to the release, United intends on keeping the Fike's name and its other private labels and plans to continue operating the Uniontown plant.
Teamsters Local 491 represents about 150 workers at the Uniontown facility, including long-haul and local milk delivery drivers, maintenance workers, general plant workers and office personnel.
The union's five-year contract expires Sept. 30, 2005, according to Vito Dragone Jr., secretary-treasurer of Local 491. Dragone said the union received a letter earlier this month from Joseph L. Carson, president of United Dairy, requesting a meeting to open talks for a new collective bargaining agreement.
"We're looking forward to a good working relationship with the new owners. We have jobs that provide good wages, health and pension benefits, which we're looking to retain. We'll listen to what they have to say and go from there," Dragone said.
Dragone also said workers at United Dairy's processing plants in Martin's Ferry and Charleston are also represented by the Teamsters union.
Although no total sale price was released, the real estate transfer was recorded at the Fayette County Recorder of Deeds office, which showed a $1.525 million price tag for the property in South Union Township.
C.M. Mortimer, Tribune-Review staff writer, contributed to this story.
