Our Company

The gleaming stainless steel tanks, which can hold 50,000 gallons of raw milk and dominate Byrne Dairy's new Ultra Dairy facility architectural profile, are a dramatic testament to the rich tradition of this third-generation, family-owned business. The Ultra Dairy - one of the country's most advanced ultra pasteurized - plants is only the latest chapter of this forward-thinking company's history.

Begun under the adverse conditions of the Great Depression in 1933, Byrne Dairy's first product was high-quality milk - delivered to homes and stores by horse-drawn wagons. Today, Byrne Dairy bottles tens of millions of gallons of milk, cream and ice cream annually, distributing its products throughout the entire Eastern Seaboard and has the geographic capability to deliver its longer-life dairy and non-dairy products to all states East of the Mississippi.

Byrne Dairy at a Glance

• 1933 Matthew V. Byrne starts bottling high-quality milk and delivering it to Central New York families by horse-drawn wagons. Monthly sales were just under $900.00
• 1941 Motor trucks are introduced to several home delivery routes and, by the end of the decade, replace the wagons.  
• 1946 Following the war, Byrne family veterans returned home and were very important to the dairy's growth years. Monthly sales volume is nearly $400,000.00
• 1952 Central New Yorkers start humming a catchy new advertising jingle - "Byrne Dairy Milk is Mighty-Fine..." This slogan appears on milk bottles and other packaging. The first Byrne Dairy Store opens.  
• 1959 Matthew V. Byrne passes away. A leader in business and civic affairs, a loyal sports fan and the owner of several fine thoroughbred race horses, he was the father of five and grandfather of 38 children, several of whom are part of the dairy today.
• 1977 Modern food merchandising coupled with the mobile lifestyle of the times, Byrne Dairy's home milk delivery comes to an end. 
• 1978 Byrne Dairy undertakes a major expansion of its product line by developing its own line of quality ice creams. This addition expands the business dramatically.
• 1981 Byrne begins to churn its own brand of butter. It quickly becomes a popular product and receives numerous quality awards.
• 1990 The main Byrne Dairy processing plant undergoes extensive expansion and modernizaton. The expansion ultimately  increases the company's milk production capabilities by 25 percent, enabling Byrne to manufacture its own plastic milk bottles.
• 1999 Byrne Dairy launches its Premium Ice Cream line made with fresh cream and the richest ingredients available.
• 2004 Byrne Dairy opens its Ultra Dairy plant - a new 40,000 sq ft. ultra pasteurization manufacturing facility in Dewitt, New York. It is one of a very few independent family-owned and managed dairies to put in an Ultra High Temperature (UHT) plant. This investment includes Extended Shelf Life (ESL) technology.
• 2008 Byrne Dairy invests $28 million to expand its Ultra Dairy production as well as its technological capabilities. These technologies include the production of aseptic milk and dairy products that do not require refrigeration. 

Board of Directors

 
Front Row (L-R)

Mark V. Byrne, Executive Vice President & Treasurer, BS Management, Syracuse University, 1986

Carl V. Byrne, President, BS Marketing, Babson College, 1986

William M. Byrne Jr., Secretary and Chairman of the Board, BA Dartmouth College, 1970

Back Row (L-R)

Phil Mazza, Chief Human Resource Officer, BS Business Administration, Lemoyne College, 1981, MBA

Lloyd Withers, President of PCI, Paper Conversions Inc.; BA, St. Bonaventure Univeristy, 1982

Tim P. Ahern, President and Founder of Ahern, Murphy, & Associates; BS Accounting Cum Laude, Syracuse University School of Management, 1978

Nicholas J. Marsella, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, BS Personnel and Industrial Relations, Syracuse University, 1976

Christian Brunelle, Sonbyrne, Vice President of Store Development, BA Sociology, Potsdam State

F. Fred Sadeghi, Ph. D., VP of Engineering & Technology at Starbucks; Ph.D. Food Science, and Master of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University; BS Chemical Engineering, University of Tennessee