Lifeway Foods unveiled a multi-million dollar investment to double the production capacity of its kefir products in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the company said in a press release.
The company completed phase one of its expansion plan, with the project expected to be finished by the third quarter of 2026. The company didn’t provide specifics on what each phase includes.
So far this year, Lifeway has doubled the number of fermentation tanks it uses to combine the raw milk with the live kefir cultures.
"We're not just growing; we're accelerating," Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway Foods, said in a release. "With record-breaking results across Q1 and Q2 and blistering momentum already in Q3, Lifeway is charting a new growth frontier."
Lifeway's kefir products, which include milk and smoothies, have benefited from a boom in consumer demand for convenient, nutrient-dense foods. Users of GLP-1 medications for weight loss, in particular, have turned to yogurt and dairy products to increase their protein intake.
Earlier this month, Lifeway reported unaudited net sales of $39.1 million for the first two months of the third quarter, a 20% increase from the prior year. The Illinois-based food maker credited some of its increased growth to expanded distribution deals with Target, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and other retailers. The company has seen 22 straight quarters of growth, according to the release.
Smolyansky said the Waukesha expansion “ensures we scale smart, invest in community and remain at the vanguard of functional dairy innovation.”
Lifeway already uses about 100 million pounds of milk from Wisconsin annually to culture into kefir, according to the release. The company is positioning the new investment as a boon for Wisconsin’s dairy economy. The company makes kefir by inoculating milk with live kefir grains, or colonies of probiotic bacteria and yeasts.
The news comes after dairy giant Danone said it would abandon efforts to acquire Lifeway after two previous unsuccessful attempts. Lifeway said following the withdrawal that it would focus on executing its growth strategy “with the distraction of Danone's unsolicited proposal now behind us.”
