Actus Nutrition, Darigold team up to expand milk protein production

Actus Nutrition and Darigold joined forces on June 2 in Seattle with a two-plant arrangement built to expand milk protein output and keep ingredient supply moving through the Pacific Northwest. The deal splits responsibilities between Jerome, Idaho, and Sunnyside, Washington, giving each company a clearer role in a market where demand for dairy protein keeps pulling processing capacity in new directions.

Under the agreement, Actus will purchase and assume operation of Darigold’s milk protein plant in Jerome, while Darigold’s member-owners continue to supply milk to the facility. Actus also said it would offer employment to Darigold’s current Jerome employees, preserving the workforce as the plant changes hands. The transition at Jerome was expected to be completed by mid-June, and the companies did not disclose financial terms.

The Sunnyside facility stays with Darigold. There, Darigold will produce and supply sweet whey powder and other high-value whey products to Actus under a long-term commercial agreement, with output dedicated exclusively to Actus. That setup matters because it links a cooperative dairy network with a specialty ingredient maker in a way that is designed to secure supply rather than simply add volume. It also keeps Darigold in control of one plant while converting the Jerome site into an Actus operation focused on milk proteins.

David Lenzmeier, Actus Nutrition’s chief executive, said global demand for high-quality dairy proteins remains strong and that the partnership is intended to help the business meet that demand more quickly. The logic behind the deal is plain: as sports nutrition, functional foods and meal replacements continue to rely on whey fractions and other milk-derived ingredients, processors that can separate, specialize and deliver those ingredients at scale have the upper hand. The Jerome and Sunnyside arrangement gives Actus access to both a milk protein plant and a steady stream of whey products without building both capabilities from scratch.

For Darigold, the partnership fits a cooperative footprint that already reaches nearly 300 family-owned farms across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana through the Northwest Dairy Association, its marketing and processing arm. Darigold says it works with more than 250 family farms, ships ingredients to 33 countries and generates about $2.5 billion in annual sales. Those numbers underline why the company is leaning further into higher-value proteins: in a market still shaped by commodity swings, milk protein is becoming a strategic product line, not just a byproduct of the dairy system.