T.G. Lee Dairy is a dairy cooperative originally founded as a Dairy farm with a single cow in 1925. Today, it processes, packages and markets dairy products for dairy farmers in the U.S. state of Florida.[1][2][3] The cooperative's headquarters are located in Orlando. Following the bankruptcy of parent Dean Foods of Texas, it is now a regional brand of Dairy Farmers of America. [4][1][5]

T. G. Lee
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryDairy
Founded1925; 99 years ago (1925)
Headquarters,
ProductsMilk
ParentDean Foods
Websitetgleedairy.com

Its founder, Thomas Gilbert Lee (1894-1986), initially started his farm to produce dairy products for Central Florida.[1][5] As of 1992, dairy farming operations had ceased but there are T.G. Lee processing plants across the state, and its branded dairy products are sold in supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and institutional food service operations.[1][5] Beginning in the 1960's, it was among the first dairy farms in Florida to use artificial cattle breeding techniques.[2]

The area of independent businesses around the T.G. Lee Dairy main headquarters is known colloquially as "The Milk District."[5]

T.G. Lee was once known for promoting yellow-plastic milk containers, originally introduced and trademarked by Galliker Dairy of Johnstown PA. Compared to translucent plastic containers, these were claimed to help preserve milk quality, and protect minerals and vitamins in the milk from the effects of exposure to fluorescent lighting on supermarket shelves.[6] Scientific studies were deceptively cited by numerous marketers of yellow plastic dairy packaging, but these studies had only shown that fibreboard containers were protective vs translucent plastic, while the yellow plastic jugs had not actually been tested.[7][6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Andrews, Mark (October 25, 1992). "All The Cows Are Gone, But T.g. Lee Remains". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Tebeau, C.W.; Carson, R.L. (1965). Florida from Indian Trail to Space Age: A History. Southern Publishing Company. p. 761. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  3. ^ Farmer Cooperatives: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of ..., 86-1 on S. 2014 ..., August 13, 14, and 17, 1959. 1959. p. 173. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  4. ^ "Dean Foods Completes Sale of Assets to Dairy Farmers of America". BusinessWire. May 1, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Dickinson, Joy Wallace (February 8, 2012). "Florida history: Beginning in 1925, hard-working T.G. Lee put milk on Orlando's map". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on February 21, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Stutzman, Rene (September 3, 1993). "Milk Jugs: Color Them Yellow". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  7. ^ "Galliker's iconic 'yellow jug' turns 25". Daily American. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
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