Upstate Niagara Cooperative
Upstate Niagara Cooperative is a farmer-owned American dairy cooperative producing and processing milk, cultured dairy foods, specialty dairy ingredients, and related beverages.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Upstate Niagara Cooperative, also known as UNC Dairy, is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative headquartered in Buffalo, New York. It was established in 1965 as Upstate Farms Cooperative to collect, process, and market dairy products produced by farms in western New York. The cooperative’s ownership model distinguishes it from investor-owned dairy companies: the business is owned by participating farmers, who supply milk and have a stake in the organization’s operations. The cooperative’s product portfolio includes fluid milk, cream, half-and-half, butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dips, ice cream mix, eggnog, juices, and other dairy and beverage products. Its brands and operating businesses include Upstate Farms, Upstate Farms Food Services, Bison Foods, Intense Milk, Crave, O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, and Valley Farms Dairy in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. These activities cover consumer retail products, food-service supply, cultured dairy, specialty dairy processing, and ingredient production. The organization expanded through acquisitions and combinations with established regional dairy businesses. In 1979, it acquired a former Dairy Center of the Finger Lakes plant in Manchester, New York. In 1983, it purchased Bison Foods Company of Buffalo, adding cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dips, and yogurt capabilities. In 2006, Upstate Farms Cooperative merged with Niagara Milk Producers Cooperative of Niagara Falls and adopted the name Upstate Niagara Cooperative, reflecting the broader regional organization created by the combination. The cooperative continued to develop its northern New York presence in 2011, when it purchased a dairy plant in North Lawrence from Healthy Food Holdings. The facility, with a history that included ownership by Borden, National Dairy Products Corporation, and Kraft, was organized under North Country Dairy, LLC. It continued producing yogurt and became part of the cooperative’s broader manufacturing network. Upstate Niagara’s production footprint has included facilities in Buffalo, West Seneca, Batavia, Syracuse, the North Country, and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The company has also operated a plant in Manchester, although that facility has since closed. In 2025, the cooperative closed its Rochester fluid-milk plant while beginning a major expansion of its cultured-products facility in West Seneca. The contrasting actions indicate a continuing effort to adjust regional capacity toward product categories and facilities it considers strategically important. The cooperative primarily serves regional and national dairy markets through retail, food-service, private-label, branded, and ingredient channels. Its identity remains closely associated with farmer ownership, regional milk sourcing, and a diversified manufacturing base rather than with a single consumer product line.
History
Upstate Niagara Cooperative began in 1965 as Upstate Farms Cooperative, a dairy organization serving farmers in western New York. Its cooperative structure placed ownership with participating dairy farmers rather than public shareholders or a single corporate parent. The organization developed processing and distribution capabilities for milk and a broad range of dairy products, building a regional network that eventually extended beyond fluid milk into cultured products, specialty dairy foods, beverages, and ingredients. A significant early expansion occurred in 1979, when the cooperative purchased a plant in Manchester, New York, from Dairy Center of the Finger Lakes. The site had previously operated as part of the region’s dairy-processing infrastructure and became one of the facilities associated with the cooperative. In 1983, the organization acquired Bison Foods Company of Buffalo. That transaction broadened its portfolio with cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dips, and yogurt, strengthening the cooperative’s position in refrigerated dairy categories beyond standard fluid milk. The cooperative’s present identity was established in 2006, when Upstate Farms Cooperative merged with Niagara Milk Producers Cooperative of Niagara Falls, New York. The combined organization adopted the name Upstate Niagara Cooperative, reflecting both its Upstate New York roots and the Niagara-area cooperative heritage brought into the merger. The renamed business continued operating as a farmer-owned dairy processor and marketer. In 2011, Upstate Niagara purchased a dairy plant in North Lawrence, New York, from Healthy Food Holdings. The plant was built in 1900 and had passed through the ownership of several major dairy companies, including Borden, National Dairy Products Corporation, and Kraft. Upstate Niagara established North Country Dairy, LLC, at the site. The facility continued producing yogurt, an activity associated with the location since 1969, and gave the cooperative additional northern New York cultured-dairy capacity. Over time, the cooperative’s production network included facilities in Buffalo, West Seneca, Batavia, Syracuse, the North Country, and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Its Williamsport operation is associated with Valley Farms Dairy. The organization has also operated a Manchester facility, although that plant later closed. Its brand family and related operating businesses include Upstate Farms, Upstate Farms Food Services, Bison Foods, Intense Milk, Crave, O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, and Valley Farms Dairy. In 2025, Upstate Niagara closed its Rochester fluid-milk plant while breaking ground on a major expansion at the cultured-products facility in West Seneca. These changes represent a reconfiguration of manufacturing capacity: fluid-milk production was reduced at one location while investment was directed toward cultured products at another. The available reference material does not identify the project’s cost, capacity increase, completion date, or executive leadership. Today, Upstate Niagara Cooperative operates as a regional dairy business with activities spanning milk processing, consumer dairy products, food-service supply, cultured dairy, and specialty products. Its core identity remains based on farmer ownership and the processing of milk from its member-suppliers, supported by a multi-facility manufacturing network and a portfolio of regional brands.
- 2025
Rochester closure and West Seneca expansion
[1]The cooperative closes its Rochester fluid-milk plant and begins a major expansion of its cultured-products facility in West Seneca.
- 2011
North Lawrence plant purchased
[1]The cooperative buys a dairy plant in North Lawrence, New York, from Healthy Food Holdings and organizes it as North Country Dairy, LLC.
- 2006
Merger creates Upstate Niagara Cooperative
[1]Upstate Farms Cooperative merges with Niagara Milk Producers Cooperative of Niagara Falls and adopts the Upstate Niagara Cooperative name.
- 1983
Bison Foods acquired
[1]Upstate Farms Cooperative acquires Buffalo-based Bison Foods Company, adding cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dips, and yogurt to its capabilities.
- 1979
Manchester dairy plant acquired
[1]The cooperative purchases a dairy plant in Manchester, New York, from Dairy Center of the Finger Lakes.
- 1965
Upstate Farms Cooperative is established
[1]The farmer-owned dairy cooperative is founded as Upstate Farms Cooperative in New York.
Products and positioning
A regional, farmer-owned dairy cooperative combining local milk sourcing with large-scale processing across retail, food-service, cultured-dairy, and ingredient categories.
Dairy brand
Upstate Farms
Upstate Farms is the cooperative’s principal regional dairy brand, associated with fluid milk and a broader range of refrigerated dairy products. It grew from the original Upstate Farms Cooperative identity and represents the consumer-facing side of the farmer-owned organization.
Food-service dairy
Upstate Farms Food Services
Upstate Farms Food Services serves institutional and commercial customers with dairy products intended for food-service use. The offering extends the cooperative’s reach beyond retail packaging into professional kitchens and other volume channels.
Cultured and specialty dairy
Bison Foods
Bison Foods is a dairy brand acquired by the cooperative in 1983. Its product range includes cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dips, and yogurt, giving Upstate Niagara a specialty-dairy portfolio beyond conventional fluid milk.
Milk
Intense Milk
Intense Milk is one of the brands identified within the Upstate Niagara family. The available reference material does not provide additional details about its formulation, market positioning, or distribution.
Dairy and food products
Crave
Crave is included among Upstate Niagara Cooperative’s family of brands. The supplied reference material does not specify its individual product range or launch history.
Milk products and ingredients
O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative
O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative is listed as part of the wider Upstate Niagara brand and operating family. The available material does not describe its precise product categories or organizational relationship in further detail.
Dairy brand
Valley Farms Dairy
Valley Farms Dairy is the Williamsport, Pennsylvania, dairy operation identified within the cooperative’s brand family. It represents Upstate Niagara’s presence outside New York State and supports the organization’s broader regional dairy-processing footprint.
Cultured dairy processing
North Country Dairy
North Country Dairy, LLC, was established by Upstate Niagara at the North Lawrence plant purchased in 2011. The facility has a long yogurt-making history and continues to support cultured-dairy production in northern New York.
Brand decisions
2025
Reconfiguration of regional production capacityStrategyBackground
The cooperative adjusted its manufacturing footprint amid continuing activity across fluid-milk and cultured-dairy categories.
Action taken
It closed the Rochester fluid-milk plant and began a major expansion of the cultured-products facility in West Seneca.
Aftermath
The actions shifted capacity away from the Rochester fluid-milk site while increasing the strategic importance of the West Seneca cultured-products operation. Further project details are not specified in the available reference.
2011
Purchase of the North Lawrence dairy plantM&ABackground
Upstate Niagara sought additional northern New York processing capacity at a historic dairy facility in North Lawrence.
Action taken
The cooperative purchased the plant from Healthy Food Holdings and established North Country Dairy, LLC.
Aftermath
The facility continued yogurt production and became part of Upstate Niagara’s cultured-dairy network.
2006
Merger with Niagara Milk Producers CooperativeM&ABackground
The combination joined Upstate Farms Cooperative with the longtime Niagara Milk Producers Cooperative of Niagara Falls.
Action taken
The two cooperatives merged and the combined organization was renamed Upstate Niagara Cooperative.
Aftermath
The merger created the current regional cooperative identity and broadened its farmer and processing network.
1983
Acquisition of Bison Foods CompanyM&ABackground
Upstate Farms Cooperative pursued expansion into cultured and specialty dairy categories.
Action taken
The cooperative purchased Buffalo-based Bison Foods Company.
Aftermath
The acquisition added cottage cheese, sour cream, chip dips, and yogurt to the cooperative’s product capabilities.
1979
Acquisition of the Manchester dairy plantM&ABackground
The cooperative sought to expand its dairy-processing infrastructure through the purchase of a former Dairy Center of the Finger Lakes facility in Manchester, New York.
Action taken
Upstate Farms Cooperative acquired the plant and incorporated it into its manufacturing network.
Aftermath
The Manchester site became part of the cooperative’s production footprint but later closed.
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