Saputo Inc.

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Canadian dairy company

title: "Saputo Inc." type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["companies-listed-on-the-toronto-stock-exchange", "food-and-drink-companies-established-in-1954", "manufacturing-companies-based-in-montreal", "dairy-products-companies-of-canada", "s&p/tsx-60", "1954-establishments-in-quebec", "canadian-companies-established-in-1954", "canadian-brands", "family-owned-companies-of-canada", "saputo-family"] description: "Canadian dairy company" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saputo_Inc." license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian dairy company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameSaputo Inc.
logoSaputo company logo.svg
typePublic
traded_as
founderLino Saputo
area_servedCanada, United States, Argentina, Australia, United Kingdom
key_people
industryFood - Major Diversified
revenueC$19.061 billion (FY2025)
net_incomeC$1.565 billion (FY2025)
num_employees19,400 (2025)
foundationSeptember 1954
location_cityMontreal, Quebec
location_countryCanada
homepage
::

| name = Saputo Inc. | logo = Saputo company logo.svg | logo_size = | type = Public | traded_as = | founder = Lino Saputo | area_served = Canada, United States, Argentina, Australia, United Kingdom | key_people = | industry = Food - Major Diversified | genre = | products = | services = | revenue = C$19.061 billion (FY2025) | net_income = C$1.565 billion (FY2025) | equity = | owner = | num_employees = 19,400 (2025) | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | footnotes = | intl = | foundation = September 1954 | location_city = Montreal, Quebec | location_country = Canada | locations = | homepage =

Saputo Inc. is a Canadian dairy company based in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1954 by the Saputo family. It produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products and dairy ingredients and is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world.

The company has expanded predominantly through mergers and acquisitions. Its products are sold in over 60 countries worldwide. It operated in Wales and Germany from 2006 to 2013. It used to own the Canadian rights to Hostess Brands products.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/WTMTL_T23_DSC_5756.JPG" caption="Saputo plant, Montreal"] ::

Master cheesemaker Giuseppe Saputo, his son Lino Saputo and family immigrated to Montreal from Montelepre, Italy, in the early 1950s. In September 1954, Lino convinced his father to start his own business. Using $500 to buy some basic equipment and a bicycle for deliveries, the Saputo family founded a cheesemaking company bearing its name. In 1957, Saputo's first sizable production facility was built in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighbourhood. Saputo went through considerable growth in the 1960s and 1970s as demand for its products increased. It became Canada's largest producer of mozzarella in the 1980s.

In 1988, Saputo expanded to the United States by acquiring two cheese plants. In the 1990s, the company made several acquisitions to diversify its product offering and geographic reach. In 1997, it became a publicly traded company and tripled in size following the acquisition of Stella Foods in the US.

In 2001, Saputo acquired Dairyworld Foods, the production and marketing arm of Agrifoods International Cooperative Ltd, which included the Dairyland milk and Armstrong cheese brands, for C$407 million.

In 2003, the firm continued to acquire businesses in the US and expanded into Argentina with the acquisition of Molfino Hermanos S.A. That same year, while remaining chairman of the board Lino Saputo stepped down as president and CEO and was succeeded in this role by his son, Lino A. Saputo. In 2008, Saputo acquired Neilson Dairy from George Weston Limited for C$465 million. The firm announced in 2012 it would buy Morningstar Food for US$1.45 billion. In January 2014, Saputo announced that they would be purchasing the fluid milk business of Scotsburn Co-operative Services Limited of Nova Scotia for $61 million. In February 2014, Saputo acquired a relevant interest of 87.920 percent of Victoria, Australia, dairy product firm Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited shares. It acquired all the remaining shares in March 2017.

On February 3, 2015, Canada Bread Company Limited completed a C$120 million acquisition of Saputo Bakery, a division of Saputo Inc. Canada Bread Company Limited is a subsidiary of Mexico's Grupo Bimbo.

In September 2017, Saputo announced the complete acquisition of the Extended Shelf-Life Dairy Product Activities of Southeast Milk, Inc. in the United States. In November 2017, According to the reports, Saputo acquired Betin Inc. a Belmont specialty cheese maker with a facility that employs 319 workers.

On February 22, 2019, it was announced that Saputo would be buying British dairy company, Dairy Crest. The company was valued at C$1.7 billion (£975 million). The transaction was completed on April 15, 2019.

Defamation lawsuits

In March 2008, Saputo Inc. launched three defamation lawsuits against the owners of three Canadian newspapers over stories that were published in December 2007 alluding to Lino Saputo being linked to organized crime. Saputo sued CTVGlobemedia, the publisher of the Globe and Mail, Quebecor Inc., which owns the Sun Media Group of Papers, and Gesca Ltd, the owner of Montreal's La Presse newspaper. Company CEO Lino Saputo Jr. claimed the articles contained false allegations against Lino Saputo and Saputo Inc. An Italian weekly magazine, L'Espresso, was also being sued for articles that ran in November of the same year. Links between Lino Saputo and American mobster Joe Bonanno have been evidenced between 1964 and 1979.

Main shareholders

As of July 15, 2025 ::data[format=table]

Storebrand Asset Management AS244,0610.06%
::

Statistics

  • Revenues: 19.06 billion CAD as of March 31, 2025
  • Employees: 19,400 as of July 15, 2025
  • Facilities: 59 (18 in Canada, 26 in the US, 9 international, and 6 in Europe) as of July 15, 2025

Brands

Brands by Saputo include: Saputo, Alexis de Portneuf, Armstrong, Cathedral City, Cheer, Clover, Cracker Barrel (trademark used under licence), Dairyland, DairyStar, Devondale, Friendship Dairies, Frigo, Frigo Cheese Heads, Frylight, Joyya La Paulina, Milk2Go, Montchevre, Murray Goulburn Ingredients, Neilson, Nutrilait, Salemville, Scotsburn (trademark used under license), Sheese, South Cape, Stella, Sungold, Tasmanian Heritage, Treasure Cave, Woolwich Dairy and Yorkshire Wensleydale

Divisions

  • Dairy Division (Canada)
  • Dairy Division (USA)
  • Dairy Division (Argentina)
  • Dairy Division (Australia)
  • Dairy Division (UK)

References

References

  1. (June 9, 2017). "Our Company". saputo.com.
  2. (October 2, 2019). "Top world dairy companies".
  3. "Shareholder Reports {{!}} Investors {{!}} Saputo".
  4. (February 25, 2013). "Saputo bailing out of European cheese market".
  5. Popken, Ben. (November 19, 2012). "Twinkie's last stand: It's up to a mediator". Lifeinc.today.com.
  6. "Saputo History {{!}} Saputo". saputo.com.
  7. "Cercle des Grands entrepreneurs du Québec".
  8. (December 18, 2000). "Saputo Inc. spends $407 million for Dairyworld Foods". CBC News.
  9. "Saputo is Golden".
  10. (October 22, 2008). "Saputo acquires George Weston's Neilson dairy". Canada.com.
  11. Marotte, Bertrand. (December 3, 2012). "Saputo buys U.S. dairy company Morningstar for $1.5-billion".
  12. (January 17, 2014). "Scotsburn sells off its fluid milk business to Saputo". CBC News.
  13. (February 12, 2014). "Saputo Announces Takeover Offer for Warrnambool Has Closed". saputo.com.
  14. Marshall, Andrew. (February 22, 2017). "Saputo completes WCB takeover".
  15. "Mexico's Grupo Bimbo acquires Saputo Bakery".
  16. (September 29, 2017). "Saputo Completes the Acquisition of the Extended Shelf-Life Dairy Product Activities of Southeast Milk, Inc. in the United States". wallstreet-online.de.
  17. "Saputo buys another Wisconsin cheese manufacturer".
  18. (February 22, 2019). "Cathedral City firm to be bought for £975m". BBC News.
  19. Onita, Laura. (February 22, 2019). "Dairy Crest deal set to net boss Mark Allen £4.8 million". Evening Standard.
  20. (April 15, 2019). "Canadian dairy giant Saputo enters U.K. market with $1.7B deal for Dairy Crest". Toronto Star.
  21. (April 18, 2019). "Saputo completes acquisition of Dairy Crest". Food Manufacture.
  22. (March 8, 2008). "Saputo sues 3 Canadian newspapers for defamation". cbc.ca.
  23. (December 5, 1979). "Cheese Company Studied For Organized Crime Tie". [[The New York Times]].
  24. (January 16, 2020). "Quebec dairy mogul Lino Saputo had secret past dealings with U.S. mobster Joe Bonanno, then lied about it". cbc.ca.
  25. "SAPUTO INC. : Shareholders Board Members Managers and Company Profile {{!}} CA8029121057 {{!}} MarketScreener".
  26. "Corporate Information {{!}} Investors {{!}} Saputo".
  27. (March 16, 2017). "Alexis de Portneuf (Saputo)".
  28. "Armstrong Pizza Mozzarella Cheese made by Saputo".
  29. (February 22, 2019). "Cathedral City maker Dairy Crest to be bought by Saputo". BBC News.
  30. Neales, Sue. (June 10, 2016). "Warrnambool owner Saputo flags fresh dairy pain".
  31. (April 18, 2019). "Saputo completes acquisition of Dairy Crest".
  32. (January 31, 2017). "Saputo poised to take total control of Warrnambool Cheese & Butter".
  33. (October 22, 2005). "HEALTH HAZARD ALERT - DAIRYLAND brand 1% chocolate milk may contain a chemical sanitizer".
  34. (August 2, 2017). "UPC 040900281888 DairyStar Saputo".
  35. (October 27, 2017). "Saputo reaches deal to acquire Australian dairy firm for $1.29 billion - BNN Bloomberg".
  36. Briodagh, Kenneth. (August 14, 2013). "Inside Friendship Dairies' Social Media Startup Strategy".
  37. (2015). "Frigo Cheese Heads Now Available in Bold New Flavors".
  38. (November 9, 2018). "Saputo launches ultra-filtered milk brand Joyya in Canada".
  39. (October 2, 2003). "Saputo to buy Argentine dairy processor".
  40. Astley, Mark. (October 4, 2013). "Saputo enters sports recovery arena with high-protein Milk2Go extension".
  41. (December 13, 2017). "Saputo completes acquisition of Montchevre Goat Cheese".
  42. "Saputo acquires activities of Murray Goulburn in Australia".
  43. (June 4, 2016). "Neilson chocolate milk recalled due to listeria concerns". [[CBC News]].
  44. (July 24, 2015). "Saputo repositions Nutrilait milk brand for a messy life".
  45. Shepel, Jan. "Salemville Cheese Co-op creates market for Amish farmers' milk".
  46. Shannon, Chris. (March 23, 2016). "Workers 'in shock' over Sydney dairy closure".
  47. "Saputo beefs up non-dairy cheese and value-added ingredients with 2 acquisitions {{!}} Globalnews.ca".
  48. (October 28, 2019). "Saputo Completes the Acquisition of the Specialty Cheese Business of Lion Dairy & Drinks Pty Ltd in Australia".
  49. (May 10, 2016). "Saputo launches fresh mozzarella products under Stella brand".
  50. (March 9, 2017). "Saputo, Chunk Feta Cheese - Treasure Cave".
  51. (October 6, 2015). "Saputo buys goat cheesemaker Woolwich Dairy".
  52. "2020 Annual Report". Saputo Inc..
  53. "Saputo to acquire UK's cheese maker Wensleydale Dairy Products".

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companies-listed-on-the-toronto-stock-exchangefood-and-drink-companies-established-in-1954manufacturing-companies-based-in-montrealdairy-products-companies-of-canadas&p/tsx-601954-establishments-in-quebeccanadian-companies-established-in-1954canadian-brandsfamily-owned-companies-of-canadasaputo-family