Despite graphic video and lost business, Chicago’s Fairlife says it plans no cutbacks

Chicago-based Fairlife, the maker of filtered milk drinks whose business has been disrupted by videos showing abuse of calves at one of its dairy suppliers, said Monday it has not laid off employees or canceled ambitious expansion plans.

Company COO Tim Doelman, in written answers to Sun-Times questions, declined to put a dollar value on Fairlife’s lost business. Since the disclosure of the videos last week showing abuse at its flagship Fair Oaks Farms, grocers such as Jewel-Osco and Tony’s Fresh Market have said they are pulling Fairlife products from their shelves. Users of social media have called for boycotts against the company.

Doelman, however, said many retailers are sticking with Fairlife. He did not identify them.

“We remain committed to our employees and our business and are taking immediate action to address the situation and protect animals at all of our supplying farms,” Doelman said. “Additionally, our focus is on the situation at hand and we’re working diligently to establish new and updated procedures that protect the animals at all supplying dairy farms.”

A company spokeswoman said Fairlife employs more than 50 people at its headquarters at 1001 W. Adams St. Doelman said more than 400 people are employed across the company, including at a production plant in Coopersville, Mich.

The undercover videos posted last week by Animal Recovery Mission showed brutal treatment of calves by five people at Fair Oaks Farms in Newton County, Ind., about 70 miles south of Chicago. The group said the videos were shot from August to November of 2018.

Veterinarian Michael McCloskey founded Fair Oaks Farms, and he also started Fairlife with his wife Sue, according to company websites. Doelman said the McCloskeys have no management role at Fairlife. He referred to the McCloskeys a question about any continued stake in Fairlife, and they could not be reached.

“Fairlife and Fair Oaks Farms are separate entities,” Doelman said. “Fair Oaks Farms was one of 30 farms to supply milk used to produce Fairlife products. Fair Oaks Farms represented less than 5% of the complete supply of milk used by Fairlife. However, last week we announced that we have discontinued the use of milk from Fair Oaks Farms.”

Doelman, who would not disclose Fairlife’s annual revenue, said it is moving forward with a new manufacturing and distribution center in Goodyear, Ariz., which is near Phoenix. The trade publication Food Processing reported in April that the $200 million facility should create 140 jobs and be open by the second half of 2020.

Fairlife is a joint venture of the Coca-Cola Co., which provides marketing and distribution know-how, and Select Milk Producers Inc., of which Fair Oaks Farms is a member. Coca-Cola said last week after the video surfaced that it was starting its own probe of Fairlife’s suppliers “to ensure they uphold the highest standards of animal welfare.”

For its part, Fairlife said it will visit all 30 of its supplier dairies by July 6 and will increase its random audits from one to 24 per year.

“We know we can play an important role in improving animal welfare across the dairy industry and are committed to putting enhanced practices and procedures in place to ensure this doesn’t happen at our dairy suppliers,” Doelman said. He promised a “comprehensive update to our animal welfare and quality assurance program.”

Fair Oaks is a family-oriented tourist attraction as well as a dairy farm, with a hotel and restaurant on its property. It said it fired four employees in the videos and that a fifth, a worker with an outside contractor, has been barred from the premises.

On Monday, charges were announced against three people in connection to the video. The identities of those charged were not released.