A pair of groundbreaking ceremonies took place just blocks from one another in West Turlock this week, both representing major growth and innovation in agricultural industry in the Central Valley.
On Wednesday morning, construction formally began on the new 65,000 square-foot Divert Inc. facility that will process unsold food from grocery stores into renewable natural gas. On Thursday, Valley Milk, LLC broke ground on a 10,000 square-foot expansion project that will allow the company to begin producing anhydrous milk fat (AMF).
Over at the Divert ceremony in the empty lot at 4407 W. Main St., CEO Ryan Begin and COO Nick Whitman were joined by Turlock mayor Amy Bublak and California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. One of the main topics of discussion was recent legislation, particularly SB 1383, which was signed into law by former governor Jerry Brown in 2016. Beginning in 2022, SB 1383 required every jurisdiction to provide organic waste collection services to all residents and businesses. Additionally, businesses had to begin collecting, sorting and transferring organic waste to a specified composting facility, community composting program or other collection activity or program.
“The wasted food crisis is a major contributor to climate change and food insecurity. States and municipalities are on the frontlines, under increasing pressure to ensure that their communities live in healthy, sustainable environments,” said Begin. “This is a transformative opportunity to scale Divert’s proven solutions in California and further accelerate our vision for a waste-free future.”
According to Divert, the United States alone generates more than 100 million tons of food waste annually, with over 50% going to landfills or incinerators. Additionally, food waste contributes 8% to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Financially, American food retailers waste $25 billion in food each year. Once fully operational in 2024, the Turlock facility will be able to process 100,000 tons of wasted food a year. The facility will offset up to 23,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year — the equivalent to taking nearly 5,000 gas-powered cars off the road a year — while the facility’s renewable energy production will be enough to supply roughly 3,000 homes each year.
The Divert facility is funded in part by a $63 million municipal green bond issued through the California Public Finance Authority.
“I am proud of the work my office and partners across California are doing to address climate change and meet the state’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals through green financing,” Ma said. “The green bond issued through the California Public Financing Authority is one example of how California is leading on climate change through quality, long term-green infrastructure opportunities. We applaud Divert’s commitment to tackling our state’s wasted food crisis with the development of this new facility, making strides toward a stronger economy and a better quality life for the people that we serve, now and into the future.”
There will be roughly 40 employees at the new facility, including plant managers, technicians and truck drivers, something that Bublak believes is a win-win opportunity.
“The City of Turlock is proud to support Divert's continued expansion in Turlock, which
will not only bring new jobs and economic growth to our region but make important strides in reducing the footprint of wasted food,” said Bublak. “With our existing agricultural and manufacturing strengths, this facility will empower companies to prevent wasted food from reaching landfills by transforming it into carbon negative renewable energy to fuel local homes and businesses. Further, this facility adds to our existing portfolio of a wide variety of businesses and services in our City and is another step towards Turlock being a vibrant community where you can live, work, raise your family and retire.”
More jobs are expected at the Valley Milk, LLC plant at 400 N Washington Rd. with their new Anhydrous Milk Fat facility. AMF is a concentrated, lactose-free butter with a fat content of 99.8%. It is used for cooking and frying as well as a shortening for shortbread, praline fillings, chocolate, chocolate bars and ice cream.
“We are a group of five generational families here in the Central Valley who decided to come up with this idea of processing our own milk 10 years ago and we started in 2018. This is a continuation of our expansion going into the AMF products, which will diversify us and will create an additional market for this area, which is very important,” said Valley Milk Chairman Don Machado.
According to Expert Market Research, the AMF market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6% globally between 2023 and 2028, attaining a value of nearly $6 billion. The product’s high stability and long shelf life has been credited for its recent boom in the global markets.
“It’s been five years since we got (Valley Milk) kicked off the ground and operational, and this is just another step in that journey for us,” said Valley Milk CEO Glenn Wallace. “Now we’re making one step closer, converting our fat into world class dairy products and going into the international marketplace.”
Bublak and Vice-Mayor Pam Franco grabbed shovels alongside Wallace and Machado and other Valley Milk representatives and employees to formally mark the start of expansion.
“Our forefathers were smart enough to look at this area and say, ‘You know what, we’re an ag community, we’re wanting more businesses here,’” Bublak said of rural West Turlock. “It’s exciting to see these businesses not only come here, but grow, and we’ll keep supporting them the rest of the way.”
