united states introduced 1991 markets united states website www.horizondairy.com horizon organic is an american company founded in 1991 that produces organic milk products . contents 1 description 2 history 3 references 4 external links description edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . march 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message horizon organic is the largest supplier of organic milk in north america . its products are sold in supermarkets and grocery stores . horizon produces organic milk on a 4 000 cow dairy in idaho 2 400 milking cows and an 800 cow dairy 475 milking cows in maryland . the company also purchases the majority of its organic milk more than 90 percent from more than 600 dairies in 22 states . prior to being acquired by now former parent company dean foods horizon was a public company and owner of the organic dairy brands juniper valley farms the organic cow of vermont and united kingdom brand rachel s organic . horizon organic s products are certified organic by the usda and advertised as free of antibiotics growth hormones and pesticides . history edit horizon was founded in boulder colorado in 1991 and began selling nationally in 1994 . the company went public in 1998 and was acquired by dean foods in 2004 . 1 in 2006 the organic consumers association organized a boycott of horizon organic and aurora organic dairy alleging that the company was not following organic standards . 2 3 in august the cornucopia institute filed a complaint with the usda alleging that horizon organic violated national organic program standards in reference to the amount of time their dairy cows should spend in pasture . 4 5 as a result of the boycott one of the largest natural food cooperatives pcc natural markets in seattle decided to discontinue horizon organic products from their customer offerings . 6 7 in 2009 now former parent company dean foods was sued by a group of dairymen for allegedly creating a monopoly on milk in the southeastern u.s. 8 in 2010 horizon published organic standards of care guidelines which outlines its livestock and organic dairy practices 9 in 2013 whitewave foods owner of the horizon brand became an independent company from dean foods . references edit horizon celebrates 20 years of organic leadership . business wire . september 22 2011 . lorraine heller horizon dairy targeted for lacking organic practices . dairy reporter food navigator 18 august 2006 . retrieved 2 september 2006 andrew martin organic . chicago tribune 20 august 2006 . retrieved 18 june 2014 . mark chediak suppliers of organic milk draw criticism . orlando sentinel 17 august 2006 . retrieved 2 september 2006 . archived october 29 2007 at the wayback machine . chris guy shore farm accused of skirting standards . baltimore sun 28 august 2006 . retrieved 2 september 2006 . archived september 1 2006 at the wayback machine . melissa allison pcc says horizon milk will be pulled . seattle times 11 august 2006 . retrieved 2 september 2006 . archived may 24 2011 at the wayback machine . karen robinson jacobs big retailers want piece of organic pie . the dallas morning news 19 august 2006 . retrieved 2 september 2006 . archived september 27 2007 at the wayback machine . burnett john . independent farmers feel squeezed by milk cartel all things considered national public radio . 20 august 2009 . horizon organic standards of care horizon archived may 11 2012 at the wayback machine . external links edit official website v t e dean foods alta dena arctic splash barber s belsoy berkeley farms borden broughton brown s dairy country fresh creamland dean s friendly s friendship garelick farms gandy s heartland farms jilbert s land o lakes land o sun pet lehigh valley dairy farms louis trauth mayfield mcarthur meadow brook meadow gold pog model dairy mountain high oak farms the organic cow over the moon price s provamel purity reiter robinson dairy stroh s ice cream swiss tea t.g. lee trumoo tuscan dairy farms retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title horizon organic & oldid 712096312 categories agriculture companies of the united statesdairy products companies of the united statesdean foods brandsorganic farming in the united stateshidden categories articles with wayback machine linksarticles needing additional references from march 2012all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as 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