MODESTO, Calif. – Dennis Roberts, the former vice president of sales and marketing for Crystal Creamery, has returned to the local dairy company as the president and chief executive officer.
“Dennis was the clear choice to lead our company into the future. Not only does he have previous experience working for Crystal Creamery, but he is a respected food industry veteran with more than thirty years of experience. He brings a wealth of knowledge and array of experiences to drive continued growth for our company,” said Terry McDaniel, chairman of Crystal Creamery’s board of directors.
Crystal Creamery is the largest privately owned dairy company in California. The Crystal Creamery board of directors chose Roberts to lead the company replacing Marty Devine, who has led the company since 2018. Devine will continue to consult with Roberts and the board of directors to ensure a smooth transition.
“I am thrilled to return to Crystal Creamery and take the reins of one of California’s most iconic brands. Our customers trust our brand as a provider of the highest quality dairy products in the communities we serve,” said Roberts, who was the company’s vice president of sales and marketing from 2014 – 2018. He added, “Our mission will not change. Crystal Creamery will continue to nourish families with simple, delicious ingredients and the freshest dairy from family and local farms.”
Roberts takes over as the company successfully rolls out its new and improved ice cream formulation. In addition to a fresh, updated packaging design, the new ice cream recipe uses simple ingredients like cream, sugar and milk sourced from local and family farms and does not contain any artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners. Ice cream lovers can enjoy 29 flavors of premium Crystal Creamery ice creams, including classics like Vanilla and Rocky Road along with popular newcomers like Caramel Pretzel, Chocolate Avalanche and Moose Tracks.
“Our new ice cream recipe has been one of this summer’s blockbuster hits. Consumers love our delicious, creamy offerings and continue to reach for more,” said Roberts. He added, “The team put a lot of effort into fine tuning the new recipe and the strong consumer demand indicates we have a winner!”
In addition to ice cream, Crystal Creamery offers a full line of dairy products including milk, cottage cheese, sour cream, butter, yogurt and specialty items like cream and egg nog. In the last year, Crystal Creamery’s sales have experienced strong growth benefitting from consumers recent increase in consumption of dairy products. The resurgence in popularity of milk coupled with the company’s reputation for producing high quality dairy products is proving to be a winning combination. The company’s focus on customer service has paid off with expanded distribution to new retailers throughout Northern California.
“We have first class facilities; an outstanding team of people and we offer our customers a wide range of the finest dairy products. I am committed to continue to invest in our business and to lead the company to the next phase of growth” said Roberts. He added, “Our board of directors and the Foster Family are fully committed to the long-term success of Crystal Creamery and Foster Dairy Farms.
Throughout its nearly 120-year history, the company has been a strong community supporter throughout Northern and Central California. Since 2012, Crystal Creamery has been recognizing outstanding student athletes in both boys’ and girls’ sports including Section and State Champions, academic team champions, scholarship winners and Hall of Fame inductees through the sponsorship of the California Interscholastic Federation. These sponsorships stretch from Bakersfield to the Oregon border involving more than 475 high schools and supporting more than 500,000 student athletes. The company’s support of the community has also been seen most recently during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Crystal Creamery donated 5,800 half gallon cartons of milk to Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin & Stanislaus Counties and the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.
