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Dive Brief:
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A supplier of milk to Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk brand has cut ties with two farms in Arizona after an investigation by Animal Recovery Mission last year found what the group called “egregious and frequent” animal cruelty. The findings were made public on Feb. 26 as part of a lawsuit filed in California district court alleging Fairlife also polluted nearby waterways.
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ARM’s six-month investigation revealed abuse from employees, including top managers, with animals being hit, dragged, whipped, shot, shoved, force-fed and chained at Rainbow Valley and Butterfield Dairy farms in Buckeye, Arizona.
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In a statement, Fairlife said the dairy offering has “zero tolerance for animal abuse,” adding that supplier United Dairymen of Arizona “has suspended delivery of milk from these facilities" to all of its customers. The brand added it operates as a milk processor and does not own farms or cows, though it requires its suppliers to follow “stringent” animal welfare standards.
Dive Insight:
The Arizona investigation is the latest animal abuse allegation to hit Coca-Cola’s fast-growing milk brand.
In 2023, ARM alleged that Fairlife was continuing to source milk from two Indiana dairy farms — Windy Ridge Dairy and Windy Too Dairy — where cows were subjected to animal abuse.
The Indiana farms were previously exposed for similar acts of animal cruelty by ARM in 2019. Coca-Cola and other parties agreed to pay $21 million to settle lawsuits in 2022 for falsely advertising their Fairlife ultra-filtered milk came from humanely treated cows.
“While Fairlife admits to failures in oversight, we have little faith that anything will change in the long run," ARM founder Richard Couto, said of the investigation in Arizona. "This isn’t an isolated issue – it’s systemic, and Fairlife’s response is just another attempt to cover up the truth.”
Founded in 2012, Fairlife has surpassed $1 billion in annual retail sales. Coca-Cola, which initially owned a minority position in Fairlife through a joint venture with Select Milk Producers, acquired the remaining stake in 2020.
Known for its ultra-filtered milk made with 50% more protein and half as much sugar as regular milk, Fairlife has been a blockbuster brand for Coca-Cola. James Quincey, the company’s CEO, said in December that Fairlife has “good profitability” and “tremendous growth prospects.” Coca-Cola is expected to open later this year a $650 million facility in New York that will serve as Fairlife's flagship Northeast location.