Plant Expansion
Lifeway Foods to Double Capacity at Wisconsin Kefir Plant
Lifeway Foods, Inc., a U.S. supplier of kefir and fermented probiotic products, has completed the first stage of its multimillion-dollar initiative to double production capacity at its facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Lifeway currently utilizes almost 100 million pounds of Wisconsin milk annually to culture into kefir. Kefir is made by inoculating milk with live kefir grains — colonies of probiotic bacteria and yeasts — that ferment lactose into a tangy, nutrient-dense beverage over a 12 to 24-hour process, creating billions of live probiotic cultures in every serving.
This year, the company doubled the number of fermentation tanks used to combine raw milk with live kefir cultures. The next three stages are underway and expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026.
In the second quarter of 2025, Lifeway earned a record $53.9 million in net sales, an 18% year-over-year jump on a comparable basis. In the first two months of the third quarter, Lifeway recorded $39.1 million in unaudited net sales, a 20% year-over-year increase.
"We're not just growing; we're accelerating," says Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky. "With record-breaking results across Q1 and Q2 and blistering momentum already in Q3, Lifeway is charting a new growth frontier. Our Waukesha expansion ensures we scale smart, invest in community and remain at the vanguard of functional dairy innovation."
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