Perhaps the best word to describe Dean Foods Co.’s financial situation
is “fluid.” That is to say that the Dallas dairy giant’s fortunes have
been bleak - though officials expect that to improve during the second
half of this next fiscal calendar year.
You could say that
this was no time to be timid behind the wheel. As an industry leader,
Chiquita-Fresh Express recognized last year that it had to be active to
“drive recovery” in a value-added salads category still reeling
from the E.coli outbreak of fall 2006.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going . . . and continue growing. Actually, “continuing growth” was exactly how General Mills Inc., Minneapolis, summed up its fiscal 2007 performance.
The familiar admonition is, “Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched.” Yet the close of Tyson Foods’ fiscal 2007 year gave President and Chief Executive Officer Dick Bond reason to pause and count his company’s blessings.