Milk Matters™

Supporting our main ingredient

Chobani’s story began in a small dairy community in Upstate New York. Ten years later, we still care passionately about the people, animals, and farms that provide our number one ingredient. We’re not farmers. But we do know that dairy farming is difficult work that requires exceptional talent, care, and effort. And above all, great dairying makes a difference in the lives and places it touches—from cow, to people, to planet.

Our vision for dairy

To define our vision for the future, we’ve worked with farmers, farm workers, elected officials, and experts across the industry to develop a program that looks at the dairy system as a whole—not an issue in isolation.

Milk Matters™ is about supporting everyone in dairy to make real change. And it starts with us—from providing support, to making meaningful community commitments, to giving farmers the freedom to farm.

The result? Confidence in knowing where your dairy’s from and the difference it’s making.

The six pillars

  • Environmental stewardship
  • Animal care
  • Worker wellbeing
  • Local sourcing
  • Economic opportunity in dairy communities
  • Support for dairy farms

  • Environmental stewardship

    We’re collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund and National Milk Producers Federation to reduce our carbon footprint and help farms do the same. Already, farms have been leaders in this space by identifying ways to do more with less. Through National Milk’s FARM Environmental Stewardship module, we’ll track our greenhouse gas emissions as well as the energy used on a sampling of dairy farms we source from. This process will identify potential efficiency gains and cost savings for farmers. Looking further into the future, we’re working with the World Wildlife Fund to develop a sustainable sourcing roadmap that outlines specific recommendations for farms in our regions to even further improve environmental practices.

  • Animal care

    All of the dairy cooperative farms we source from today are participating in National Milk Producers Federation Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) animal care program and have completed an on-farm evaluation. By December 2019, all of the farms we source from through our cooperative partners will comply with National Milk’s FARM Version 3.0.

  • Worker wellbeing

    Dairy farming is difficult work that requires exceptional talent, care, and effort. The incredible farmers and farm workers who do this challenging work deserve to feel safe, secure, and happy in their work environment. From safety and training programs to wage standards to a support hotline for outlier situations—we’ll work with dairy cooperatives, farmers, and farm workers to create a system where everyone in the dairy industry has the support they deserve. To achieve this, we’re collaborating with Fair Trade USA to develop a first-of-its-kind certification standard for U.S. dairy that supports dairy workers and provides meaningful premiums to benefit farmers and farm workers alike to celebrate and underscore the importance. Participation will be mandatory to receive any premiums through Milk Matters.

  • Local sourcing

    We’ve bought our dairy locally from day one, and that’s not going to change. We’re proud members of the New York State Grown & Certified and Idaho Preferred programs. Local sourcing is an important way to support the agricultural communities where we live and work while ensuring our products are as fresh and delicious as possible and minimizing our carbon footprint.

  • Economic opportunity in dairy communities

    Every dairy maker has a responsibility to the communities that support them. Chobani is partnering with the Community Foundation for South Central New York and the Idaho Community Foundation to invest $2 million dollars over the next decade to fuel big ideas from local community organizations, expand economic opportunity and promote entrepreneurship. Through Chobani’s Chobani Scholars program, it’s also funding multi-year scholarships at Cornell University and the University of Idaho for students of dairy farming families looking to pursue a degree in dairy science.

  • Freedom and flexibility for dairy farms

    We’re committed to giving farmers the freedom to farm as they know best. We support choice and transparency—but above all, we support solutions-based programs that advance quality for our consumers and create economic opportunity for our farmers. The industry is changing dramatically and to support farms for the future, we’ve partnered with Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY program and New York State’s Dairy Acceleration Program to help farms with less than 300 cows receive funding for small projects to address specific business needs. These funds will support business planning and improved profitability strategies through on-farm production techniques and aspects related to the day-to-day farm operation. Additionally, to further our commitment to supporting every farmer’s ability to make critical choices relating to their business, we will not mandate any programs that dictate the types of feed they use. There has been tremendous discussion around the cow’s diet and what a farmer feeds their cows. What’s clear is that these discussions are filled with emotions—but often lack rigorous study and thoughtful debate. Programs limiting the type of feed that farmers can use could put most farms in our region out of business due to lack of availability and high costs. We don’t think it’s right to take the decision away from the people who know best—the farmers.