Community elated by news of Kraft sale
By Renee Wells/South Idaho Press
Thursday, January 11, 2007 11:53 AM CST

RUPERT — There is reason to celebrate in Rupert and many community leaders are doing just that.

Almost before Kraft closed its doors for the last time, Brewster Dairy, Inc., reached an agreement to purchase the plant, in Rupert.

The plan, announced Wednesday, was met with elation by most.

“I am ecstatic,” Community Development Director Sherri Miles said when the announcement was made that Brewster would begin production by November.

“It’s so exciting that we’ve got something coming in right behind Kraft,” she said. “I’m really pleased with the way Kraft handled shutting down their operations here and their efforts to facilitate getting something back into that plant as quickly as possible.”

Miles said it will actually be February or March before Kraft has all its equipment out of the plant. Brewster will then begin retrofitting the plant to meet its needs, she said.

The company is everything Kraft has been, Miles said.

“I’ve been working with them for months and they are a great company,” she said. “They are wonderful to work with and I am certain they will be every bit the community player that Kraft has been.”

Miles said the company’s president is from Idaho, but that did not necessarily play a part in the company’s decision to locate here.

“I’m certain it allowed him to know what Idaho had to offer, however,” Miles said.

Miles said company officials have not said what or how much product Brewster will produce or how many people it plans to employ.

“That will be forthcoming, I’m certain,” Miles said.

Mini-Cassia Economic Development Director Bob Shepard said the deal took some time to cement and it will take more time for Brewster to get the plant ready for use, but the deal is certainly a plus for Rupert.

“They are a world-class cheese manufacturer,” Shepard said. “So it’s good for us. It’s too bad they can’t be in there sooner, so those who have been laid off with the Kraft closure could move over to their company, but I hope those people will take advantage of the training opportunities they’ve been given if they don’t find employment in the interim.”

A couple of people at a local convenience store expressed concerned about the numbers of cows such an industry will require.

But Steve Whitesides, who owns a large dairy east of Rupert, looked at it differently.

Whitesides said the announcement is good news for Minidoka County, for Rupert and for the entire area.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” he said. “From what I’ve heard, Brewster is a very good company. I would assume, but I’m not certain of it, that they will produce more fluid volume than Kraft. That’s great for our community and it’s great for the dairy industry here.”

Based in Brewster, Ohio, Brewster Dairy operates Swiss cheese manufacturing plants there and in Stockton, Ill.