Crystal Creamery

Crystal Creamery was founded in 1901 by George Knox in Modesto, California as Crystal Cream & Butter. In 1921, Crystal Cream & Butter was purchased by Carl Hansen, a Danish immigrant. The Hansen family led the company for the next 86 years and pioneered many new technologies, growing Crystal Cream & Butter into one of the largest independent dairy processors in the state of California. In 2007, Crystal Cream & Butter was acquired by HP Hood, who sold it later that year to Foster Dairy Farms, which had been founded in 1941 by Max and Verna Foster, a venture that followed the 1939 founding of their Foster Farms. Today, Crystal Creamery claims to be the "largest privately owned dairy in California."

In 2009, Foster Farms Dairy acquired Humboldt Creamery, based in Fernbridge, California (near Eureka). In 2010, Foster Dairy Farms re-branded itself as Crystal Creamery. Crystal Creamery's 120th Anniversary was celebrated in 2021.