The Coca-Cola company plans to build a $650 million, 100-acre milk production plant outside Rochester, N.Y., that would draw from local dairy farms and create an estimated 250 jobs, officials said Tuesday.
The 745,000 square-foot factory for Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk brand is set to be planted in a grassy, tangled stretch in the town of Webster, east of Rochester, and would be the largest dairy plant in the northeast, according to Gov. Hochul’s office.
Announcing that it had selected Webster as the site of the plant, Coca-Cola cited the town’s location between dynamic dairy cooperatives in the Rochester and Niagara regions. The factory is due to be built by 2025, with construction beginning in 2023, Coca-Cola said.
Hochul said in a statement that Coca-Cola’s decision “marks the next chapter in New York’s agricultural success story” and came over stiff competition from other states. The dairy industry represents New York State’s largest agricultural sector.
“New York’s dairy industry serves as a crucial economic engine for our state,” Hochul said in the statement. “Coming from a family of dairy farmers in Ireland, I am proud to have secured this major opportunity to position our state as one of the nation’s top dairy producers.”
Fairlife, which launched a decade ago, produces heavily filtered high-protein, low-sugar milk products free of lactose. It also produces protein shakes.
Fairlife’s annual sales exceed $1 billion, according to Coca-Cola, which acquired the dairy company in 2020. Tim Doelman, chief executive of Fairlife, said demand for his company’s products has never been higher.
“Webster’s proximity and access to best-in-class dairy farmers make it an excellent location to support our next phase of growth,” Doelman said in a statement.
Fairlife, which is based in Chicago, has plants in Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico and Canada. The upstate factory would be Fairlife’s first in New York.
New York State’s development agency, Empire State Development, has committed up to $21 million in tax credits for the factory tied to job creation requirements, the governor’s office said.
The local assemblyman, Brian Manktelow, said in a phone call he was thrilled by the news.
“It’s great for our agriculture — it’s great for Webster,” said Manktelow, a Republican and former farmer. “It’s just absolutely amazing.”