About Us
To be honest and transparent: we are a plant-based cheese and butter company. Check us out here. Founded in 2014 by Miyoko Schinner, we are on a mission to craft dairy products from plants (nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, and vegetables) through natural processes such as fermentation.
We know — it’s weird. As a plant-based dairy company, don’t we compete with the dairy industry? Aren’t vegan companies trying to put animal farmers out of business? We don’t see it that way. Instead, we want to partner with you to build a new future for your farm – one that is profitable and stable.
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We understand an initiative like this requires enormous amounts of collaborative knowledge, expertise, and resources. Combining you and your expertise with other farmers, consultants, extension advisors, professors, economists, and agronomists, we will have a dynamic support team for this initiative. We’ll take it step by step and take our time as we build a new future for your farm together.
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What makes us unique is that we acknowledge the risks and barriers that farmers face when trying to diversify and do something different. The financial challenges, alone, are wildly intimidating. And what about buyers? To that end, we want to minimize the risk for you. Through a contract, we commit to providing funding in the form of a grant for the transition process, a guaranteed income while you transition, technical assistance, educational resources, and a secured market.
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Farmers are the backbone of our food system, yet they often don’t reap the full benefits of their labor. For every dollar spent on food, farmers receive an average of 14.6 cents. At Miyoko’s, we believe farmers should receive a fair price for their goods through parity pricing. Parity pricing for farmers is similar to living wages, as it covers the cost of production plus more to provide a livelihood for the farmer. Our program will use a parity model to determine a price for ingredients that works for you and your farm.
What would I transition to growing?
Each farm is unique. What you can grow depends heavily on your soil, weather, landscape, and more. We use an array of ingredients in our products which means there are a lot of opportunities for growing a diverse selection on your farm that we can purchase from you. While we have our own ideas for what you can grow, including herbs, grains, vegetables, and fruit, we also want to hear from you: what are you interested in growing?