Borden Bankruptcy
Borden Bankruptcy
One of the country's largest -and oldest- milk producers has filed for bankruptcy. It's a company that dates back to the golden age of television and radio...
Borden Dairy Co., became the second major milk producer to file for bankruptcy in the last two months.
Tumbling milk consumption combined with the rising price of milk have crippled the dairy industry with debt. Dean Foods, America's largest milk producer, filed for bankruptcy November 12.
Borden said it filed for bankruptcy because it cannot afford its debt load and its pension obligations. It has 3,300 employees, 22% of whom are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
The company said it also has been hurt by broader industry trends, including a 6% drop in overall US milk consumption since 2015.
Borden noted that more than 2,700 family dairy farms went out of business last year, and 94,000 have stopped producing milk since 1992. With the wholesale cost of milk rising due to fewer suppliers and retail milk prices weaker due to lower consumption, the margins for milk processors like Borden have suffered, the company said in its filing.
