‘We’re a growth brand’: Tillamook’s CEO on the dairy company’s eastward expansion

It’s tough transforming a local brand into a national name. But that’s what Oregon-based dairy company Tillamook is trying to do.

Over the last few years, the company began an eastward expansion -- going beyond the Pacific Northwest as far as the East Coast. And, according to CEO Patrick Criteser, it seems to be working. In 2017, he said on the Modern Retail Podcast, 95% of Tillamook’s sales were made west of the Rocky Mountains. Today, “we’re about 10% to 15% east of the Rockies.” The dairy company added 4.6 million new households to its customer base this past year, most of which, Criteser said, were on the East Coast. Even during the pandemic, Tillamook was still able to grow.

Tillamook launched in 1909 as a local dairy cooperative, and recently became a certified B corporation as well. Despite the company’s storied history, it’s never seen a year quite like 2020.

According to Criteser, there were many demand spikes -- as well as supply chain hiccups. “There were certainly a lot of challenges in the last year,” he said, “but a lot of opportunity for us to play an important role in making sure the food supply stayed there and reliable for folks as they went to the grocery store.”

One big change he noticed was the rise of home cooks testing out new ingredients. “We definitely saw people cooking more at home, certainly eating more at home [and] experimenting with ingredients.” These constant fluctuations meant Tillamook had to re-strategize throughout the year to handle the ebbs and flows. Ultimately, Criteser said, “it played out pretty well for us as a business.”

With all that in the rearview mirror, the focus is now to continue expansion. “We’re a growth brand,” said Criteser, “and we’re continuing to gain new distribution and make sure that we can sell through that distribution and keep it.”