From Seven Cows in a Leaky Barn to the World's Top Organic Yogurt Maker

LONDONDERRY, N.H., April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-five years ago this month, on a little farm in southern New Hampshire, Samuel Kaymen, with the help of his wife, Louise, their six kids, and seven cows, made a 50-gallon batch of delicious, whole-milk yogurt -- the first yogurt he'd ever made for sale.

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Kaymen was operating an ambitious, yet struggling organic farming school called the Rural Education Center on his Wilton farm. He later brought one of those first quarts to Gary Hirshberg, a young windmill builder and eco-activist who joined the Center full-time a few months later.

"Back in 1983, we were just trying to raise a little money for our organic farming school. We didn't know we'd one day sell yogurt in stores across America," Hirshberg explains. As Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo, he adds, "Today our farming school is just a memory, but thanks to Stonyfield Farm organic products and our very loyal consumers, we're keeping more than 60,000 farm acres free of toxic, persistent pesticides -- a feat our little farming school could never have achieved."

Stonyfield Farm, sold nationwide in grocery and natural food stores, boasts $320 million in sales and a combined annual growth rate of 26.3% over the past 19 years. Its Londonderry headquarters and production plant have been expanded several times, sister brands have been launched in Canada, France and Ireland, and Stonyfield boasts such high-profile fans as Bruce Springsteen, Martha Stewart, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

    Among Stonyfield Farm milestones:
    -- Since Stonyfield began donating 10% of profits to environmental
       initiatives, the company has given more than $6 million to efforts that
       help protect and restore the earth;
    -- The company has recycled more than 23 million pounds of paper,
       cardboard, plastic, and other materials, keeping them from landfills
       and incinerators.
    -- More than 11 million free servings of yogurt has been donated to food
       banks and to festivals, sporting events, fairs, concerts, and other
       community events.
    -- Stonyfield last year spearheaded  the creation of the nonprofit Climate
       Counts (climatecounts.org), which engages consumers and businesses in
       the fight against climate change;
    -- The roof of the Yogurt Works is home to New Hampshire's largest
       solar-electric array, which generates some of the clean renewable
       energy used to make Stonyfield yogurt.

Its environmental and social missions have been as critical to the company's success as creating a quality product, Hirshberg explains. The company's 'healthy food, healthy people, and a healthy planet' is not merely a tagline.

"And now that we're in a new millennium, we humans face nutritional and environmental challenges that seem graver than ever," Hirshberg points out. "So as we begin our next 25 years, we're excited by the opportunity to bring healthy organic and environmentally conscientious solutions to more people than ever."

About Stonyfield Farm

Stonyfield Farm, celebrating its 25th year, is the world's leading organic yogurt maker, and produces organic yogurt, smoothies, cultured soy, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and milk. The company advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet. It was the nation's first dairy processor to pay farmers not to treat cows with the synthetic bovine growth hormone rBST. Stonyfield donates 10 percent of its profits to environmental causes; was America's first manufacturer to offset 100 percent of its CO2 emissions from its facility energy use; and recently installed the largest solar array in New Hampshire to help power its production plant. President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg addresses climate change in his new book, "Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World" (Hyperion). For more information about Stonyfield Farm, its products and initiatives, visit http://www.stonyfield.com .