Milk cooperative in Aurelius to expand, add Jobs
By Stefan Yablonski
Located at 15 Eagle Drive off routes 20 and 5 in Aurelius in the heart of Cayuga County, Cayuga Milk Ingredients is more than just a supplier of high-quality dairy ingredients.
Its new plant is slated to open later this year —a more than $168 million investment.
The current plant produces multiple products ranging from pasteurized cream to milk powder. It also produces milk powders that are found in cheeses, yogurts and other items.
The company employs more than 110 people at the plant and more than 1,200 across its farming community.
It exports its products to more than 24 countries.
Its main product line has been milk and protein powders, with some refrigerated liquid products.
But with room for growth, the company is adding aseptic beverages that use sterilization equipment to provide increased shelf life. They don’t require refrigeration and can be stored at room temperature, achieved through a process that sterilizes both the beverage and its packaging separately, then combining them under sterile conditions.
“We ship domestically across the country and internationally around the world. We produce milk ingredients — skim milk powder and non fat dry milk, creams,” said Eden Ng, senior manager of marketing and strategic initiatives at Cayuga Milk Ingredients.
In addition, the plant makes pasteurized cream, condensed milk, liquid permeate (Permeate is a mix of natural lactose, vitamins and minerals found in milk), milk protein concentrate and milk protein isolates, she added.
Once packaged, the products are shipped across the world — to customers as far away as Asia, South America and Africa; to companies that would then turn them into products for consumption.
Cayuga Milk Ingredients prides itself on delivering “the best milk products in the world.”
“We currently process more than a billion and a half pounds of milk every year from 33 family-owned farms in the region,” said Ng.
Milk from Cayuga Milk Ingredients’ farms is tested for antibiotic residues, unloaded, pumped into holding tanks and stored at less than 36°F. The milk is processed within 24 hours.
The facility meets and exceeds global standards, holding certifications including Grade A, OU Kosher, Halal, SQF Level III, USDA approval, and Sedex approval. The milk quality surpasses EU regulations and is 100% compliant with animal welfare standards, according to Ng.
Expansion nearly complete
“We are expanding, but we are expanding where we currently are. We are building a new plant that will open later this year,” she said. It is being built next to the current plant on Eagle Drive. It is ‘an extended shelf life consumer goods facility.’ It will include a new bottling plant.”
The 130,000-sq.ft. facility is close to most of the farms; that means a higher milk quality, she said.
The new facility will have capacity for producing 150,000 gallons of aseptic drinks each day. It will include a warehouse for those products that will use automated storage and retrieval system technology.
It will add an estimated 150+ full-time positions.
They have already started hiring for the new facility, having almost doubled their workforce over the last year in preparation for the opening.
Deeper roots
Although Cayuga Milk Ingredients celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, the original founders driving the growth of the company go back 25 years.
Cayuga Milk Ingredients, a farmer-owned dairy processing company launched in Aurelius, grew out of Cayuga Marketing.
“It started as part of Cayuga Marketing. Some farmers banded together and formed a co-op that eventually led to them building a processing plant to process their milk ingredients. We have two boards, one for each company,” she said.
“There were seven founding members from seven different farms, including Bill Morgan (then chairman of CMI) and Bill Cook (then chairman of CM), heading up a group of 22 member farms in total,” said Neil Rejman, CMI chairman. “This group had already worked together for over 20 years prior, marketing milk together through another processor.”
When farms became responsible for bearing the cost of milk hauling due to changes in the FMMO — Federal Milk Marketing Orders establish certain provisions under which dairy processors purchase fresh milk from dairy farmers supplying a marketing area —an issue became highlighted in Cayuga County, in that there were few farms in areas where there were processors and more cows in an area where there were no processing facilities, resulting in long hauling times.
Cayuga Marketing was formed in 1986 by local farmers as a way to fight for higher milk prices while ensuring the production of quality milk. The organization has grown to include 29 member farmers, most from Cayuga County.
In 2008, some of Cayuga Marketing’s farmers decided to search for way to reduce their milk hauling costs. The result was Cayuga Milk Ingredients — a locally based processing plant that uses milk from cows within 30 miles of the factory. They started in 2014 and celebrated their 10 year anniversary last year. Seventy-five percent of the farms are located close to the plant.
With a united goal to reduce milk hauling costs, increase net premiums and create marketing value, CMI started in 2014 with the exact same membership that it has today, according to Rejman.
“It’s really good sustainability, you are not having to move your milk all around. Farmers don’t have to ship their milk about 100 miles away. Our farmer-members are the heart of our mission, dedicated to producing the highest quality milk through a shared commitment to excellence, sustainability and community,” Ng said.
“Our longevity over the last 10 years is because we built a company to address a fundamental business need. Our state-of-the-art ingredients processing facility combined with the willingness of our group of farmers to do what it takes to meet the specifications required for our milk ingredients means that as a group, CMI is able to enter a lot of specialty ingredients markets that other manufacturers are unable or unwilling to play in,” Rejman said. “As our membership is open to embrace changing farm practices, the speed of which CMI can adjust to influence and meet specific customer specs such as bacteria levels and somatic cell counts positions us as an efficient and nimble ingredient supplier.
“Our ability to adapt quickly, thanks to a shorter chain of command, has allowed us to build relationships with internationally renowned brands and partners.”
With the construction of the new consumer products facility in 2025, CMI continues to evolve and grow within the dairy industry to ensure that it continues to stay at the forefront.
“CMI would not be the company it is today without our hardworking and dedicated team of employees at the plant, out in the field and in the office,” Rejman said.
