Clover Stornetta Farms, a third-generation family-owned California dairy, recently announced its commitment to convert its conventional milk products to be Non-GMO Project Verified over the next two years. Clover will also be one of the first non-GMO verified conventional milk products produced in California on a large scale. The first non-GMO conventional milk products will be on shelves in the first quarter of 2017.
“Our focus on non-GMO reaffirms our commitment to invest in the future of our dairy cows, family farms, and communities. Our hope is to lead 
the way by creating an industry-wide movement towards more non-GMO feed options for our dairy cows. We look forward to working closely with our dairy partners to make this goal a reality,” said Clover president & CEO Marcus Benedetti.
Over the next two years, Clover will work with its conventional dairy farmers to convert their dairy cow feed to non-GMO and align with the Non-GMO Project Verified requirements for using such feed. Clover has already achieved Non-GMO Project verification with its organic milk products.
Benedetti told the San Francisco Chronicle that his dairy farmers already have contracts to source non-GMO feed from West Coast suppliers, who had been selling the feed to Japanese dairy farmers.
Clover Stornetta sources milk from 19 organic and 13 conventional dairies and processes more than 50,000 gallons of milk per day. Production is evenly split between conventional and organic milk. Clover Stornetta milk is sold in retail grocery chains such as Target, Safeway, Costco, Whole Foods, and others, primarily in California with some distribution in Arizona, Utah, Washington, and Hawaii.
According to the Non-GMO Project there are 390 Non-GMO Project Verified dairy products on the market, and there is growing interest from large dairy producers seeking non-GMO verification.
