Last updated on December 5th, 2021
Petaluma, California-based Clover Sonoma has entered into a partnership with Alpina, a family-owned food company based in Colombia.
Both family-owned companies hold a shared vision for the future of dairy and that means taking a global perspective. The alliance will support the growth of Clover Sonoma’s business operations, sustainability efforts and product innovation, while strengthening relationships with employees, farmers, retail customers, consumers and in the communities they serve.
“As we look to innovate and grow our brand in new markets, the Clover Sonoma leadership team and I have been looking at opportunities that will support that growth,” said Marcus Benedetti, Clover Sonoma chairman of the board. “Like-minded companies have to work together to innovate for our consumers and to support our farmers and communities.”
Benedetti has chosen to follow his passion as board chairman d to integrate the newly established board toward Clover Sonoma’s aligned growth strategy. As a result, he has appointed Clover Sonoma President and COO Ken Gott as president and CEO. The entire Clover Sonoma leadership team will remain the same and is a large part of the defining equities in the business, along with Clover Sonoma’s employees and dairy farmers, that attracted Alpina as a partner.
“After many years in the dairy business, we are focused on the partnership alignment and growth of the business nationally,” said Ken Gott, Clover Sonoma president and CEO. “Having been with Clover for more than six years, I’ve worked alongside Marcus and the leadership team to create operational processes and structures that allow for future national expansion. We look forward to evaluating how best to scale and innovate, while preserving our values as a business.”
Clover Sonoma started the company with six families in 1977 and has always remained family-owned and operated through various ownership structures. With this partnership, the structure incorporates new families who share purpose and who have also been entrenched in the dairy business for generations.
Benedetti will remain the single largest shareholder in Clover Sonoma and will continue to help lead the company along with the current leadership team. Partnering with another family-owned, independent business also allows Clover Sonoma continued flexibility versus taking on debt capital or partnering with a public company. The company looks forward to realizing its vision for growing the Clover Sonoma and Clover the Rainbow brands in new markets with Alpina as its partner in that journey.
Alpina is a multi-Latin food and dairy company of Swiss origin based in Colombia, with more than 75 years of tradition and presence in more than 20 countries in Latin America. Alpina’s portfolio has more than 600 SKUs including aged cheeses, milks, yogurts, functional dairy beverages, vegetable-based beverages, baby food, nutraceutical and food supplements, among others. The company is the largest dairy producing company in Colombia with more than $700 million in sales.
Clover Sonoma was the first dairy in the United States to become American Humane Certified and hold its partnership of family-owned dairy farms to a higher standard by developing its own unique Clover Promise of Excellence. As a Certified B Corporation, the company uses its business as a power to do good, and its passionate support of animal welfare, sustainable practices and local community continue to be hallmarks of the business. Each year, the company gives back at least 5 percent of its profits to support these passions under its Clover Cares program. For more information, visit cloversonoma.com.
