Standard Milk: The Tipline for 20 May 2020

The Department of Justice conditionally approved Dairy Farmers of America’s purchase of assets from Dean Foods Company earlier this month, but a lawsuit filed yesterday by Food Lion and a rival milk cooperative said the deal is still rotten. Quoting from the US antitrust agencies’ new-and-improved draft vertical merger guidelines, the companies said the transaction will allow “the Standard Oil of the modern dairy industry” to foreclose competition up and down the milk supply chain in the Carolinas. Also, GCR USA spoke with Frank Peake following his release from the longest-ever prison sentence given for an antitrust violation.