It's not unusual for businesses to move up the value chain when their segment commoditizes. Dairies are actually a couple steps up the chain from the farmers wh

It's not unusual for businesses to move up the value chain when their segment commoditizes. Dairies are actually a couple steps up the chain from the farmers who grow feed or hay. Cheese, ice cream, etc. are next up. In some places it's grass to baskets to warehousing to shipping. In others it's grass to sheep to wool to textiles to fashion. Still others it's trees to lumber to paper to stationary. Other industries have their own moves. In areas that can't manage this move up tend to see the local industries consolidate until some final monster exists and either also eventually fails too (to external competition) or rent seeks its way to a zombified existence. There's other alternatives to when vertical value growth isn't possible -- like in developing countries, the businesses all coexist together, but tend to price each other into nearly unsupportable levels. Strong regulations tend to kill this alternative off leaving an up or out path one of the few viable ones available.