Innovations

The passion behind Fairlife Milk

One of the big news stories in the dairy industry these days is Coca-Cola pairing with Select Milk Producers to market Fairlife milk. The product was developed by Mike and Sue McCloskey.  It all started when they lost a well on one of their dairy farms in 1990.  Mike says they tried to drill a new well but just couldn’t find the right aquifer and all they got was hard water that the cows didn’t like.  So, they installed a filtration system on the farm which proved to be a huge success, the cows liked the water and reacted accordingly.  “The coats and health improved rapidly and milk production increased higher than before.”

Months later, Sue came up with the idea; “If we can filter out the things we don’t want and boost what we do want, why couldn’t we do the same with milk?” So they started to experiment with different types of food-grade filters using the family as the “test market”.  Over the years, they created a cold-filtration process that doesn’t change the nutrients in milk.  Nothing is added, the process.

The milk will come from the dairy farmer-members of Select Milk Producers and the filtration process will be done in Michigan. Mike says once the cows are milked, the milk is cooled to 34 degrees and then it goes through the filtration system.  “It filters out the lactose and a significant amount of the sugar while increasing the protein and calcium so there is 50 percent more protein and 30 percent more calcium.  What’s left is pure Fairlife Milk.”

Sue McCloskey says they are passionate about milk and Fairlife will “set a new standard in milk so people and their families can be healthier.” The product will sell at a premium price but the McCloskeys and Coca-Cola obviously believe it will sell.  Mike points to the success of Starbucks in selling premium coffee, the same can be said with artisan cheeses and Greek Yogurt.

Fairlife is a “fresh” product and will be placed with the other value-added milks including organic and alternative plant-based milks. It is being distributed nation-wide by the Minute Maid division of Coca-Cola.

Steve Jones, CEO and Mike and Sue McCloskey talk about the development of Fairlife

Read more about Fairlife here: