California Ag Network

Tag: Pacific Coast Coalition

  • PCC-DBII Awards Grants to Support Product Innovation

    Dairy processors throughout the Pacific Coast are among the 128 total grant winners to date receiving investments aimed at strengthening the dairy processing industry’s resilience. The Pacific Coast Coalition—Dairy Business Innovation Initiative (PCC-DBII), hosted by California State University, Fresno, has awarded more than $13,000,000 in grant funding to dairy processors including local farmsteads in California, Oregon and Washington, along with Arizona, New Mexico and  Nevada..

    “These grants help strengthen regional dairy processors throughout the West Coast region as well as increase the capacity for new product development and business economic sustainability,” said PCC-DBII Project Director Carmen Licon Cano, PhD. “Each grant contributes to equipment efficiencies and leverages expertise that translates into new products, new markets, new/retained jobs, and increased financial well-being of the businesses.”

    “PCC dairy business grants truly make a difference for families, communities and the region as they recognize entrepreneurship, product creativity and increase the availability of innovative cheese, butter, yogurt, kefir, frozen dessert products, cosmetics and nutritional supplements regionally and nationally,” said Dr. Susan Pheasant, Director of the Institute for Food and Agriculture and “cowkeeper” for the PCC-DBII. “We celebrate these grant winners as they move forward in building economic sustainability and regional growth through the production and sale of high-quality dairy foods and products.”

    California dairy processors awarded grants include:

    • 2GoodFarm
    • Bagnoli Original Organic
    • Carmel Valley Creamery
    • Claravale Farm Company
    • Joseph Gallo Cheese Company
    • Mavens Creamery
    • Stuyt Dairy Farmstead Cheese Company

    — Story contributed by the Pacific Coast Coalition  — Dairy Business Innovation Initiative

  • New Dairy Funding Opportunities For Innovation Open Through Oct. 31

    Dairy farmers, producers, and more: The Pacific Coast Coalition-Dairy Business Innovation Initiative (PCC-DBII) is now accepting grant applications through October 31, 2025.  As outlined by federal guidelines: priority areas are for projects that:

    – Diversify dairy product markets to reduce risk and develop higher value uses for dairy products,

    – Promote business development that diversifies farmer income through processing and marketing innovation, and

    – Encourage the use of regional milk production.

    The PCC-DBII will consider all applications, with higher priority given to proposals that address and uplift regional milk usage, e.g. milk sheds. Total available dollars will be either $155,550 or $500,550, depending on the current government shutdown.

    Click here for the application form:  https://forms.gle/Q7kNftvgVGPPzvay8.

    Timing (subject to the duration and results of the US Government Shutdown) includes a virtual “office hour” for prospective applicants:

    ·      October 31, 2025 – Applications due

    ·      November 1-30, 2025 – Review of applications; contractual paperwork

    ·      December 1, 2025 – proposed start date subject to contractual paperwork being completed

    ·      FRIDAY July 31, 2026 – ALL grant award spending must be completed

    For more information: See previous grant winners from funding rounds 1 – 5. Additional funding opportunities are also available through the PCC-DBII Internship and Technical Assistance programs. Please contact PCC-DBII with any questions or call Nancy Van Leuven, (206) 919-8694.

  • $5.87 Million Awarded To Dairy Businesses In California And Other Western States

    $5.87 million in grants have been awarded to dairy processors along the Pacific Coast, strengthening the region’s food systems. The Pacific Coast Coalition – Dairy Business Innovation Initiative (PCC-DBII), hosted by California State University, Fresno, has named 28 winners across California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and New Mexico. While all grants are pivotal to the sustainability and longevity of each respective business, Rosa Brothers Milk Company (Hanford, CA) was awarded almost $1 million for the purchasing of ice cream equipment to meet demands, produce novelty items, provide healthier alternatives and expand into the pet food market with Greek-style frozen yogurt pet treats. Grants of $500,000 were given to Pacific Cheese Co. (Reno, NV) for an upgraded cheese cuber that will almost triple production in a growing market, Petit Pot (Emeryville, CA) for launching a more affordable paper cup 2-pack without compromising on quality, and CheeseBits (Riverbank, CA) for reducing COGS through automation, adding jobs and expanding into new markets. With $4.78 million going towards equipment-related investments, all grants support the economics of innovation in the dairy industry.

    Grouped by state, grant awardees include:

    California

    Oregon

    Washington

    Nevada 

    New Mexico
    Camino de Paz (Santa Cruz)

    “Each grant awardee embodies the passion and initiative to build a stronger dairy presence on the West Coast, and to forge bonds between food producers/processors and consumers,  said PCC-DBII Project Director Carmen Licon Cano, Ph.D. “Recipients range from adding a creamery location where people can watch cheese being made on a small scale to transitioning a production line with automation, allowing employees to free up for other important tasks, like creating new value-added dairy products.  All projects are exciting, allowing dairy processors to make nutritious, delicious dairy products available locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.”

    Grant winners’ intentions range from upgrading equipment, streamlining processes, optimizing packaging, adding more jobs, developing new products, and generating new market growth. From first-generation businesses to multi-generational legacies, these grants support the future of the dairy industry and the strength of our nation’s food systems.

    Dairy processing businesses and farmsteads throughout the West Coast are actively investing grant funds to catalyze change via their product offerings, production efficiencies, job retention/growth, and market expansion.  Dr. Susan Pheasant, Director of the Institute for Food and Agriculture and the “cowkeeper” for the PCC-DBII commented “We are thrilled to work with each of these businesses and honored to steward the USDA AMS dairy innovation funding for product development, business resiliency, access to high-quality food nutrition, and the rebuilding of communities.

    About the Pacific Coast Coalition

    Dairy Business Innovation Initiative is funded through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and hosted by California State University, Fresno. The initiative is in collaboration with Cal Poly Humboldt, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Chapman University, Chico State, Oregon State University, Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council, UC Davis, Washington State University, New Mexico State University and the California Dairy Innovation Center. This is the fourth round of grant funding through the PCC-DBII. Via four rounds of funding, PCC-DBII has made nearly $10.7 million in grants from the USDA AMS available to regional dairy businesses for innovation-related investments, helping dairy processors evolve their operations and adopt more sustainable practices. For more information on the PCC-DBII and available resources, please visit their website at https://www.dairypcc.net/

  • California Producers, Processors Awarded $300,000 in Dairy Business Innovation Initiative Grants

    The California Dairy Innovation Center (CDIC) announced five California winners of Dairy Business Innovation Initiative grants by the Pacific Coast Coalition, the USDA-funded Initiative hosted by Fresno State University supporting dairy product, process and packaging innovation. The winners include Capstone Ranch/Wonder Cow (Madera County), Central Coast Creamery (San Luis Obispo County), Foggy Bottom Boys (Humboldt County), Schoch Family Farmstead (Monterey County) and Weststeyn Dairy Farm (Glenn County).

    The grants are the first in the $1.8 million DBII award from the USDA that created the Pacific Coast Coalition to support dairy businesses in California, Oregon and Washington in the development, production, marketing, and distribution of dairy products. These are supplemented by additional phases of funding (2022-2025) totaling over $20 million announced in November by USDA. A second round of funding, which will award around $4 million in grants from $50k to $1 million, will be announced this month.

    For Cal Poly Dairy Science graduate Rob Diepersloot, founder of WonderCow, Inc. the award will focus on pilot-scale testing of the feasibility and regulatory applications for an innovative dairy-based beverage. Diepersloot said, “We started WonderCow in order to harness the functional ingredients that dairy has to offer and bring them to families in an easy and practical way. This grant will provide much support to accelerate our path to market and add considerable value; not only to our milk-based product, but more importantly, to the families who will benefit from the health factors it will bring.”

    “Receiving this grant will kick start a chain of events that promises an overall increase in our company’s revenue and will benefit our employees and all of our dairy partners,” said Reggie Jones, owner of the Paso Robles-based Central Coast Creamery. “The grant will enable us to purchase processing equipment to increase our production capacity by 40%, which translates to more income for our dairy partners. This also has a significant impact on the local economy.”

    Cody Nicholson Stratton, key partner of Foggy Bottom Boys applied for funding to purchase equipment to manufacture a value-added milk product from the farm’s milk. “Being able to create extra revenue from a portion of our total milk volume will ensure that our farm remains financially sustainable and operational,” Stratton said. “We are consistently asked where our milk goes. This farmstead product line will offer our customers more ways to engage with our brand/business. We are excited to be able to offer our dairy with our family branded label.”

    As one of the last dairies on the Central Coast of California, Schoch Dairy knows well the challenges of small-scale dairy production. Schoch received an award for equipment to produce new European style cheeses and butter products that are not common in California. “We believe this will be a major step that moves us from a local into a regional supplier of innovative farmstead dairy products as well as demonstrating the viability of a smaller-scale dairy operating profitably,” said Beau Schoch, third generation dairy farmer, engineer and project manager for the project. “Schoch Family Farmstead would like to lead the way in our region thanks to this grant.”

    The grant will allow Weststeyn Dairy Farm to study the feasibility of high-pressure processing (HPP). Stephen Weststeyn, third generation farmer said, “I studied dairy processing at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with the dream of making dairy products someday from our milk on our farm. The dairy industry is in desperate need of innovation. There is a window of opportunity here in the U.S. to apply new technologies to milk and milk packaging to reset milk’s image. Applying the HPP process to milk gives the opportunity to not only to refresh milk’s image, but it also allows the opportunity to create a better, fresher tasting product, improve shelf life, and open milk to a new field of possibility and development with functional beverages.”

    Funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, DBII program funded initiatives focus on product, process and packaging innovation and serve to:

    • Diversify dairy product markets to reduce risk and develop higher value uses for dairy products.
    • Promote business development that diversifies farmer income through processing and marketing innovation.
    • Encourage the use of regional milk production.

    The grants are the first in the $1.8 million DBII award from the USDA that created the Pacific Coast Coalition to support dairy businesses in California, Oregon and Washington in the development, production, marketing, and distribution of dairy products. These were supplemented by additional phases of funding (2022-2025) totaling over $20 million announced in November by USDA.

    “The continued investment in dairy innovation at both the farm and plant level will help take our industry to the next level,” said John Talbot, CEO of the California Milk Advisory. “And CMAB’s California Dairy Innovation Center was instrumental in this grant process and has resources to guide qualified California dairy businesses to take full advantage of these opportunities.”

    “We appreciate Fresno State University, host of the DBII grant,” said Talbot. “The dedication of Dr. Carmen Licon and Dr. S. Pheasant and the administrators and grant staff at Fresno State have moved this initiative forward in a significant way and created a smooth pathway for grants to start making a difference.”

    The CDIC’s Steering Committee, which includes representatives of California Dairies Inc., California Dairy Research Foundation, California Milk Advisory Board, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Dairy Management Inc., Fresno State University, Hilmar Cheese, Leprino Foods, and UC Davis assisted in the thorough review process and recommended funding applications based on objective criteria.

    Grants are available to anyone operating a dairy farm or dairy processing plant in California that focus on product, process, packaging innovation for dairy manufacturing. This includes feasibility studies and workforce training. Proposals can include requests for funding for qualified equipment, feasibility studies, innovation in packaging as well as training of the workforce. This is a reimbursement program with applicants reimbursed upon presentation of invoices/receipts for approved projects. Grants are available to qualified applicants throughout California. For more information on upcoming grants, please contact CMAB’s California Dairy Innovation Center: vlagrange@cmab.net.

    About the California Dairy Innovation Center
    The California Dairy Innovation Center (CDIC) coordinates pre-competitive research and educational training in collaboration with industry, check-off programs, and research/academic institutions in support of a common set of innovation and productivity goals. The CDIC is guided by a Steering Committee that includes California Dairies Inc., California Dairy Research Foundation, California Milk Advisory Board, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Dairy Management Inc., Fresno State University, Hilmar Cheese, Leprino Foods, and UC Davis.