Announces Reduction in Workforce

DALLAS, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF),
today announced a reduction in its expectations for third quarter and full
year adjusted earnings per share.

“Rapidly increasing and record high dairy commodity costs have created a
very challenging operating environment and 2007 results have been well short
of our expectations,” said Gregg Engles, Chairman and CEO. “The third quarter
has been particularly challenging as dairy commodity costs have risen sharply,
hitting all time highs. This is by far the most difficult operating
environment in the history of the company, reinforcing the importance of the
long-term strategic initiatives we have underway. These efforts will better
position us to face future challenges.”

Jack Callahan, Chief Financial Officer of Dean Foods, added, “As a result
of this extreme commodity environment, we face unprecedented cost challenges
in our Dairy Group operations, including increased shrink costs and materially
reduced profits from excess cream sales. At the same time, sales volumes in
the Dairy Group have softened as consumers react to the record high prices. We
are also seeing a pronounced shift from branded products to private label in
some of our regional brands. At WhiteWave, results continue to be negatively
impacted by the oversupply of organic milk.”

Continued Callahan, “With these challenges in mind, it is now clear that
our adjusted results for the third quarter will be below our previous guidance,
and we now expect earnings per share to be approximately $0.15 per share in
the third quarter and approximately $1.25 per share for the full year.”

“While we had expected strong growth in milk supply to lead to lower
conventional dairy commodity prices toward the end of the year, it now appears
that prices will likely remain high for the balance of the year, due in part
to continued strong export demand for non-fat dry milk powder,” added Callahan.
“However, we expect more favorable price movements as we get farther into 2008.
We also expect the organic milk oversupply to continue to negatively affect
results for the balance of this year and into at least the first half of 2008,
despite the recent volume acceleration of the Horizon Organic brand.”

As part of its ongoing initiative to streamline operations, the Company
also announced a reduction in workforce that is expected to affect
approximately 600-700 positions. Implementation will begin immediately with a
voluntary reduction program followed by an involuntary reduction, if necessary.
The program is expected to conclude by late October.

Engles continued, “Over the past 18 months, we have been working to
increase the efficiency and capability of our Dairy Group operations. We are
now ready to move forward with a workforce reduction. Our decision is part of
our multi-year productivity initiative which will help better position the
company during this incredibly difficult period for Dean Foods and the
industry. It is a tough decision but it is a necessary action to improve our
competitive position.”

The reduction in workforce will affect Dean Foods Dairy Group employees
from across the country. The company expects to take a restructuring charge in
the third quarter related to the reduction in force.

ABOUT DEAN FOODS

Dean Foods Company is one of the leading food and beverage companies in
the United States. Its Dairy Group division is the largest processor and
distributor of milk and other dairy products in the country, with products
sold under more than 50 familiar local and regional brands and a wide array of
private labels. The Company’s WhiteWave Foods subsidiary markets and sells a
variety of well-known dairy and dairy-related products, such as Silk(R)
soymilk, Horizon Organic(R) milk and other dairy products, International
Delight(R) coffee creamers, and Land O’Lakes(R) creamers and other fluid dairy
products. WhiteWave Foods’ Rachel’s Organic(R) brand is the largest organic
milk brand and third largest organic yogurt brand in the United Kingdom.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements in this press release are “forward-looking” and are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These “forward-looking” statements include statements relating to,
among other things, projected sales volumes and earnings per share. These
statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ
materially from the statements set forth in this press release. The Company’s
ability to meet targeted financial and operating results, including earnings
per share depends on a variety of economic, competitive and governmental
factors, including raw material availability and costs, the demand for dairy
commodities generally and for the company’s products, many of which are beyond
the Company’s control and which are described in the Company’s filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this
press release speak only as of the date of this release. The Company expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or
revisions to such statements to reflect any change in its expectations with
regard thereto or any changes in the events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statement is based.

Contacts:

Media:

Marguerite Copel

(214) 721-1273

Investors:

Barry Sievert

(214) 303-3437

SOURCE Dean Foods Company