One generation's miracle is another generation's ick.

Prime Future 203: the newsletter for innovators in livestock, meat, and dairy

Ya know what wasn't on my 2024 bingo card? Reading the Morning Brew and thinking to myself, "Louis Pasteur must be rolling over in his grave."

Let's back up.

Louis Pasteur had a mega impact on the entire animal protein industry but especially dairy:

"His research in chemistry led to remarkable breakthroughs in the understanding of the causes and preventions of diseases, which laid down the foundations of hygiene, public health and much of modern medicine. Pasteur's works are credited with saving millions of lives ... He is regarded as one of the founders of modern bacteriology and the "father of microbiology."

Pasteur is also regarded as one of the fathers of germ theory of diseases, which was a minor medical concept at the time. His many experiments showed that diseases could be prevented by killing or stopping germs, thereby directly supporting the germ theory and its application in clinical medicine.

He is best known to the general public for his invention of the technique of treating milk and wine to stop bacterial contamination, a process now called pasteurization."

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to argue that last line about Louis Pasteur's work in milk became the lynchpin that unlocked what we now know as the modern dairy industry.

Today we’re looking at what Pasteur’s contribution to the dairy industry might mean for the future of the industry, particularly in the strange context of recent news on consumer trends in milk.