MIDDLETON, WIS. — Foremost Farms USA revealed it is partnering with Ginkgo Bioworks to reduce the dairy industry’s overall carbon footprint. The partnership will enable domestic, sustainable biomanufacturing of materials from dairy co-products.

Ginkgo will develop a new technology platform that may help upcycle dairy co-products, and in return provide an environmentally friendly alternative to wasteful and carbon-intensive chemical production, according to Foremost Farms. The Middleton, Wis.-based dairy producer makes cheese, butter and dairy ingredients supplied to national and international markets.

Greg Schlafer, president and chief executive officer at Foremost Farms, said Ginkgo can uniquely help the dairy cooperative meet its goals.

“Ginkgo's platform gives us access to everything we need to move from concept to commercialization faster, providing a competitive advantage," Schlafer said. "We are innovating to continue our trajectory as environmental stewards that take care of our world and create value for dairy farm families by potentially lowering manufacturing costs and creating a significant new revenue stream for those farmers."

Jennifer Wipf, Ginkgo's head of commercial, cell engineering, said the biotechnology company seeks to help create more sustainable products.

“We are especially interested in helping customers in legacy industries develop improved production processes and a more circular economy," Wipf said. "We're eager to put our advanced metabolic engineering capabilities to work for Foremost Farms and are proud to help accelerate efforts focused on sustainable biomanufacturing."