Dairy Industry Crushed Innovator Who Bested Price-Control System

By Dan Morgan, Sarah Cohen and Gilbert M. Gaul

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 10, 2006; Page A01

In the summer of 2003, shoppers in Southern California began getting a break on the price of milk.

A maverick dairyman named Hein Hettinga started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less than the competition, exercising his right to work outside the rigid system that has controlled U.S. milk production for almost 70 years. Soon the effects were rippling through the state, helping to hold down retail prices at supermarkets and warehouse stores.