John Jennings

Jacksonville Plant Manager

I've worked in the Jacksonville plant for over 30 years now. But it's only been the last four years that I've worked for WhiteWave-Dean Foods, and the differences are astounding. With WhiteWave, we've been beating the bottom line, of course, and helping the company make money, but we've approached it in a remarkably different way. WhiteWave does not sacrifice quality in any way. We will not compromise our products. With that in mind, we’ve been able to upgrade our facilities almost immediately, and the capital we invested in the plant has brought us tremendous energy savings. Two years ago, we built a cooler to house our products. Before that we were running tractor-trailers just to keep the products cool. That's only one story, but the support we get from WhiteWave and Dean Foods has been extremely rewarding. It's affected every aspect of our work, and enabled us to care for our plant, inside and out. From incorporating "Lean Manufacturing" guidelines that have helped us dramatically cut down on waste to the simple act of our employees making sure the facility’s grounds are clean, we're a better plant. Better in our ability to help the company achieve financial success, and better in our ability to reduce our overall environmental footprint. The community here in Jacksonville has seen this and I think it's made a big difference.