PETALUMA, Calif.–Straus Family Creamery, renowned for its minimally processed premium organic dairy products and leadership in sustainable organic farming, announces its new Organic Dairy Sustainability Incentive Program, and new farm partnerships as it celebrates a 30-year legacy of environmental stewardship and organic dairy products.
Driven by Founder Albert Straus’ vision to create a sustainable organic farming and food system that supports environmental and economic resilience in rural farming communities, Straus Family Creamery’s mission and values focus on helping sustain family farms while protecting the environment, local economies, and the people who live and work in the community.
New Organic Dairy Sustainability Incentive Program
Recognizing the urgent need for collective action in reducing climate change and strengthening the farming and food system, Straus Family Creamery’s groundbreaking practice-based incentive program —which is among the first of its kind from a dairy processor— supports its supplying organic dairy farms in achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
The incentives are tied to implementing on-farm climate solutions from Straus Family Creamery’s replicable carbon-neutral organic dairy farming model that will reduce on-farm greenhouse emissions to net zero and help advance the company’s mission. Incentives are paid monthly and allocated to farms based on qualified practice implementation, not through the purchase of offsets or based on post-practice results. In the first year, the program has paid a total of $250,000 in incentives. The financial incentive program is rooted in organic agriculture, which is better for the climate and enhances water, soil quality, and biodiversity. Each farm must adhere to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program. Straus Family Creamery’s incentive program encourages the development and implementation of:
- Carbon farm plans with regenerative land management practices that build healthy soil and sequester atmospheric carbon.
- Manure management practices that decrease lagoon emissions by at least 80 percent. Implemented through small-scale anaerobic digesters and climate-smart manure management practices like composting.
- Eliminating fossil fuels through the electrification of on-farm vehicles powered by methane biogas captured in cow manure.
- Enteric methane emission (cow burps) reduction through a certified organic feed additive such as red seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis).
A recent World Wildlife Fund report, “Reducing Greenhouse Gases with Incentives at the Farm: How companies are moving from setting climate targets to delivering on them,” outlined the Creamery’s collaborative approach with its partner dairies. The success sets a new industry standard while underscoring Straus Family Creamery’s unwavering commitment to environmental leadership.
“We could not execute this program and our 2030 net carbon neutral goal without the mutual collaboration and innovation of our entire network of organic dairy farms. These farms are key stakeholders in helping us advance a sustainable organic dairy farm model and a more resilient food system,” said Joseph Button, Vice President of Sustainability and Strategic Impact.
Strengthening the Sustainable Organic Farming Community
According to the new USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture report released this month, the number of U.S. dairy farms shrunk from 39,303 in 2017 to 24,082 in 2022. Yet, at this time when dairy farms nationwide continue to collapse, Straus Family Creamery continues to employ practices that reduce climate impact while simultaneously helping uphold the economic viability of sustainable organic dairy farming.
The company recently expanded its supplier group to welcome three new farms: Moretti Family Farm (joined July 2023), Robert McClelland Dairy (joined November 2023), and Nosecchi Family Dairy (joined January 2024). These additions underscore the Creamery’s mission-driven commitment to rural community revitalization and collaborative development of climate solutions. With Founder Albert Straus’ own Straus Dairy Farm as a model, Straus Family Creamery continues to lead by example, inspiring a new era of sustainable organic dairy farming.
“Each year, farmers must farm with challenging climate conditions, increased expenses, and operating costs while needing to be economically viable,” said Albert Straus, founder of Straus Family Creamery. “We want to support farmers, their stewardship of the land, and animal welfare, and help them innovate. That’s why we are creating a carbon neutral organic dairy farming model that enables these farms to succeed to the next generation.”
A History of Doing Business Right
As the brand celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, it reflects on trailblazing milestones, including becoming the first 100 percent certified organic creamery in the United States in 1994, the first non-GMO project-verified creamery in North America in 2010, and the first creamery in the world to receive TRUE® Zero Waste Certification. New in January 2024, is a line of organic lowfat kefirs.
The organic kefir blueberry is a NEXTY Award Finalist for Best New Certified Organic Product. For those attending Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California, look for the Straus Family Creamery team to sample the organic kefir at the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace tent on Wednesday, March 13, from 11 am to 4 pm.
About Straus Family Creamery
Based in Petaluma, CA, Straus Family Creamery is a Northern California certified organic creamery that crafts premium products with high-quality organic milk and ingredients. Focusing on minimal processing for superior taste and nutritional integrity, Straus Family Creamery offers milk, cream, kefir, yogurt, ice cream, butter, sour cream, and a variety of wholesale and specialty dairy products, sold in the Western United States. Its organic yogurt, butter, and ice cream are available across expanded regions of the country. Products can be found via the company’s store locator. Straus organic dairy products are made with organic milk supplied by family farms in Marin and Sonoma Counties, including the Straus Dairy Farm, which was the first certified organic dairy farm west of the Mississippi River. Straus Family Creamery, the first 100 percent certified organic creamery in the United States, when it launched in 1994, continues to make business decisions based on its mission. For more than 30 years, Straus Family Creamery has been blazing a trail to forge transformation of a farming and food system and to create a replicable model while remaining focused on the heart of organic farming. Organic farming is, and always has been, regenerative. Straus Family Creamery was founded by Albert Straus, a second-generation dairy farmer and climate action pioneer whose Straus Dairy Farm is currently on track to implement a carbon-neutral organic dairy farming model, believed to be the first of its kind. Straus Family Creamery is collaborating and innovating with its supplying dairy farms to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. Straus Family Creamery’s Organic Dairy Sustainability Incentive Program launched in 2023. The family-owned business collaborates with and advocates for local organic dairy farmers; the farms utilize 100 percent organic practices and regenerate soil through carbon farming. Learn more about the Straus difference at StrausFamilyCreamery.com.
