New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and representatives from The Coca-Cola Company and fairlife yesterday marked the groundbreaking on a new fairlife production facility, a $650 million investment in the Town of Webster, Monroe County.
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The 745,000 square-foot facility, being built on Tebor Road, will serve as fairlife’s flagship Northeast location and is expected to be operational by Q4 of 2025.
Empire State Development is providing up to $21 million in assistance for the fairlife project through the performance-based Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program and the New York Power Authority is providing nearly 8.5 MW of low-cost ReCharge NY power in exchange for the job creation commitments.
The company selected New York following a personal pitch from Governor Hochul due to the invaluable assistance from government and community partners and the state’s world-renowned reputation as an agribusiness global leader with an unparalleled, innovative dairy community.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency, the Town of Webster, Rochester Gas and Electric, and Greater Rochester Enterprise were also instrumental in bringing the company to New York State.
Governor Hochul also announced that New York State will provide $20 million through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation to help the Town of Webster upgrade its aging wastewater treatment plant.
The new investment builds on a $20 million FAST NY grant for Monroe County, announced in 2023 by Governor Hochul, for use at the Tebor Road site in Webster, allowing the county to upgrade the existing electrical infrastructure and enhance the region's appeal to agribusiness and industrial machinery manufacturing sectors.
Founded in 2012, fairlife has designed a line of dairy products that are made through an ultra-filteration process that removes the lactose and much of the sugar and leaves behind more of the protein and calcium.
The company offers a wide range of products including fairlife ultra-filtered milk, Core Power protein shakes and fairlife Nutrition Plan. The Coca-Cola Company has been a strategic partner to fairlife since it was launched in 2012 through the company's ultimate acquisition of it in 2020.
Unique to fairlife, the ultrafiltration process gives their milk a longer shelf life and creates a product with less sugar, more protein and more calcium over conventional milk for sale in the marketplace.
Expected utilization is equal to an estimated 5 million pounds of locally sourced milk per day, making it the largest dairy plant in the Northeast and positions New York to remain a nationwide leader in dairy production. ■