Following a period of poor profitability, the business was acquired in March 2003 by Arla Foods,[6] who in turn sold it on to Dairy Crest in July 2006.

The chairman's new son-in-law, American citizen and ex-sailor of the US Navy, Patrick Galvani, had been studying retailing before coming to the United Kingdom, particularly supermarkets.

[8] In 1960, in an attempt to expand nationwide, Galvani made a pitch to the board to buy the 212 stores of John Irwin and Sons, based in Liverpool and Merseyside, but they refused to back him; Jack Cohen of Tesco subsequently bought the chain.

[10] The Eden Vale division became responsible for Express' chilled food interests including yogurts, desserts, salads, cottage cheese and fromage frais.

[13] In 2002, Northern Foods- the then-owners of Express Dairies- sold the Ski and Munch Bunch brands, along with their Cheshire yogurt plant, to Nestlé.