Mandan Creamery and Produce Company stockholders held their organizational meeting in the Commercial Club rooms on February 15, 1915. President W. A. Lanterman announced that the company would begin operating March 20 from the two-story brick Ronco Building at Fourth Avenue NW and First Street. Other officers included T. A. Cummins, secretary, and Hoy S. Russell, treasurer.
As a young man, Russell had worked at Hess Creamery in Glen Ullin, then one of North Dakota's largest creameries. He and his friend Henry Schulte moved their families from Glen Ullin to Mandan to manage and supervise the new operation.
Under Russell's guidance, Mandan Creamery and Produce grew into one of the nation's largest butter manufacturers and turkey processors. Mandan butter and turkeys were shipped and recognized across the country.
As dairy and poultry production increased, the company established plants in Dickinson, Minot, Hettinger, Garrison, Bismarck, and Miles City, Montana. Its Mandan and Minot plants produced an average of approximately 30,000 pounds of butter each day throughout the year, reaching 60,000 pounds daily during peak summer production. The Dickinson plant pasteurized milk and produced ice cream for local delivery.
The company's several plants employed well over 200 people. Its success depended on dairy farms shipping cream from east of Jamestown to Billings, Montana, and from northern South Dakota to the Canadian border.
A two-story brick addition completed in 1934 tripled the Mandan plant's poultry-handling capacity and added nine employees. The main floor became a truck garage, while refrigeration equipment and a new power-generation system were installed in the basement.
Changes in agriculture became apparent during the 1940s. Poultry and dairy production declined steadily after World War II, and commercial growers replaced the company's Mandan-brand turkey operation. Butter and ice-cream production gradually ended as the company expanded into meat processing.
Operations at the downtown plant ceased on March 11, 1988. The creamery and adjacent buildings were demolished for the parking lot that remains on the site.
Cloverdale, previously the local brand for the company's butter and ice cream, became its company-wide name during the 1970s as the business shifted toward premium pork products. Operations moved to a new $6 million plant northwest of the Seven Seas motel in Mandan. The plant held its grand opening in May 1988.