Photo Via Land O'Lakes | Heather Anfang, president of Dairy Foods Marketing and vice president of Land O’Lakes, recently visited local facilities.

The leader of a national food manufacturer recently paid a visit to the Central Valley to highlight the local farming community and the bond between the rural and urban regions of the United States.

Heather Anfang, president of Dairy Foods  and vice president of Land O’Lakes, which has a manufacturing facility in Tulare, came to the area from Minnesota to visit the plant and bring attention to company’s local impact.

Anfang oversees strategic and commercial activities in the dairy retail and foodservice businesses to drive brand health and encourage engagement and development of team members.

She has served with Land O’Lakes, a national cooperative headquartered in Minneapolis, for over 20 years, including many years heading Dairy Foods and more recently enterprise-wide e-commerce efforts.

Anfang said Land O’Lakes works with dairy farmers across the country, but said the Central Valley is a really important part of the membership and is where a majority of their milk comes from.

The plant in Tulare employs 550 people and is the largest dairy plant that Land O’Lakes operates, and one of the largest milk-receiving dairy plants in the U.S.

“It’s very involved — from the farm to the plant, the processing to then creating great products that are going into the community,” Anfang said. “The team takes great pride in being involved in the community.”

In 2023 Land O’Lakes produced one episode of the “Rural is Incredible” docuseries focusing on Tulare, sharing the stories of local farmers and citizens and showcasing the closeness and innovative spirit of the community.

Anfang said consumers want to understand more about where their food comes from.

She said that 87% of the food supply comes from farm towns in rural America, but consumers are disconnected from them.

Consumers become very interested in Land O’Lakes products when the company tells them about the hard work of farmers and families and how they give back to their community.

While the consumption of milk has been declining for years, Anfang said that has been offset by the increased consumption of dairy products, mainly cheese, butter and yogurt.

She said that every year, the U.S. consumes more and more dairy.

Consumers are looking for healthier, simpler products, as well as protein sources.

During her visit, Anfang spoke to industry members in Turlock about the labor situation, saying that the labor force is there, but employers need to be competitive as more people are curious about the work culture of companies.

She said that they need to maintain a culture where workers can see themselves in a career spanning many years, with progression and opportunity.

Everyone wants to get paid fairly, Anfang said, but employees also want to work at a place that is meaningful and provides opportunity. There are some parts in the country with Land O’Lakes plants that are seeing declining labor markets, but she said she is not seeing that in the Central Valley.

Anfang said she is interested how technological advances will play a role in the industry. The company is exploring ways to leverage artificial intelligence, automation, and new technologies to do jobs people don’t want to do and shift them into different, more desirable roles.

“There is so much technology that we can leverage to ensure that we are as efficient and effective and productive as possible on the farm and in our facilities,” she said.

While consumers might be concerned about food prices, Anfang pointed out that farmers get a very small percentage of the profits from the food they produce, having to navigate through increased input prices including higher labor, health care and equipment costs.

The company works to educate people about the steps that it takes to produce food and how farmers are impacted to help ensure they are strong, healthy, and operational.

While consumers might be disconnected from the rural farming communities, they are open to the message and want to protect the American farmer.

“We are proud to be part of the Central Valley, be a large employer in the Central Valley, and be a part of the community and make great food that gets to the shelves of California and beyond,” Anfang said.