The New York-based dairy supplier has been operating since 2014, manufacturing dairy ingredients with milk sourced from Cayuga Marketing for the global food and nutrition industries.
The process to transition to non-GMO verification took 10 months, according to Cayuga Milk Ingredients CEO, Kevin J. Ellis, and includes the company's whole and skim condensed milk, liquid sweet fluid cream, non-fat dry milk, skim and whole powder, milk protein concentrates 70 and 85, and milk protein isolate 90.
"The certification was very challenging, and I dare say that I might not do it over again had I been aware of how challenging the process would be," Ellis told DairyReporter.
"The biggest challenge was aligning the crops and feeding programs of our dairy farms to meet the requirements of the Non-GMO Project. This was arduous and very challenging mainly due to the sheer magnitude of our farming system."
Despite the challenging process, Cayuga Milk Ingredients aims to take advantage of the rising demand for non-GMO certified food and beverage products, which Ellis believes will grow double digits over the medium term.
Non-GMO Project Verified food and beverage labeling accounts for $22.3bn in annual sales with more than 43,000 verified products among 3,000 brands, according to the Non-GMO Project.
“Non-GMO continues to be the fastest growing label in the natural food category,” Ellis said. "This is driven primarily by consumer’s fear of the food system."
“We continually invest in our plant and processes to deliver differentiated products… and we’re confident that our Non-GMO Project Verified ingredients will provide our customers a significant advantage in the food and nutrition marketplace.”