Speculation was, therefore, rife as to a possible merger between the two dairy giants.
Instead, dairy giants are increasingly forcing down what they pay to farmers, leaving dairy farms in the lurch.
Standard & Poor's sharply cut its credit rating on Parmalat, the Italian dairy giant, by four notches on Wednesday, just a day after announcing a similar cut.
Within the last few years, Dean Foods, the dairy giant, has acquired Horizon Organic and White Wave, maker of Silk organic soymilk.
Parmalat, the dairy giant that is under bankruptcy protection, had not sought damages from Intesa related to that bond sale because the two sides have been in negotiations for the last few months.
Parmalat, the dairy giant based in Parma, Italy, disclosed that it had inflated financial reports by more than $10 billion.
Groupe Danone, the French dairy giant, owns Stonyfield Farm.
Commercially, Hohhot is known for being the base of nationally renowned dairy giants Yili and Mengniu.
The majority send their milk off to one of four dairy giants for processing.
I had some excellent ice cream on the Devonport dock; New Zealand, a dairy giant, makes great ice cream (try the hokey-pokey, a kind of butterscotch crunch).