Wisconsin’s dairy farmers and state government want to create the dairy drink of the future.
Governor Tony Evers told a dairy conference in Madison that the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation will invest $750,000 towards the project.
“To establish the Beverage Innovation Center, a new center for excellence that would be housed in the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin campus.”
Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin CEO Chad Vincent says farmers are contributing another $250,000.
“The Center for Dairy Research and the innovation is critical, and it’s one of the best investments that we make.”
The goal of the project is to create a new technology for dairy drinks that don’t require refrigeration, and will allow for a wide scale of different tests and prototypes to find what they’re looking for. Dr. John Lucey with the Center for Dairy Research says this will allow them to purchase equipment for small batches to test many new potential dairy-based beverages.
“Looking for long shelf life, because people want convenience, and they want to be able to have this anywhere.”
That research would be made available to manufacturers and producers once it’s complete.