Winn Enterprises Moves into Knudsen’s L.A. Office

Winn Enterprises, an Anaheim company that has rapidly expanded to become one of the largest dairy products processors in the nation, has moved its headquarters to Los Angeles.

The move--the company’s second in a year--was made to place Winn’s senior executives closer to the company’s wholly owned Knudsen Foods subsidiary, said Ted Nelson, Winn’s co-chairman.

Knudsen and its recently acquired Foremost Dairies unit account for about 95% of Winn’s sales, he said.

“Our major business is in Los Angeles, so it only made sense to be there full time,” where most of the company’s 5,000 employees already work, Nelson said. Winn’s new offices will be at Knudsen’s corporate headquarters, 231 E. 23rd St.

Because Knudsen accounts for the “lion’s share” of Winn’s annual revenue of $1.25 billion, “it seems logical that the company’s executives would want to be on the site rather than 50 miles away,” said Scott Gillespie, an analyst at Drake Capital Securities in Los Angeles.

Industry analysts also view the move as an attempt by Winn’s executives to immerse themselves more fully in the dairy industry. For years, the company operated as a real estate investment firm under the name Builders Investment Group. But, after purchasing Knudsen in 1983, it changed its name and redirected its business into the dairy and specialty food industries. In June, Winn acquired Foremost Dairies for $50 million in cash and notes. The 65-year-old San Francisco dairy had been one of Knudsen’s largest competitors.

Winn now appears to have satisfied its appetite. Further purchases at this time, Nelson said, “could be a distraction to management.”

Winn was unsuccessful in attempts during the past year to purchase City of Industry-based Kern Foods, a large regional jam and fruit-juice maker, and Olson Farms, a Sherman Oaks egg producer. Winn reported a net loss of $2.5 million for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30. The company said the loss came from a $3-million charge incurred in its acquisition of Foremost.