The New York Times reports that yogurt giant Dannon plans to change its milk supply structure to accommodate new consumer demands for sustainable agriculture and GMO-free food. In the United States, most milk used for yogurt is produced by rural dairy cooperatives that aggregate milk from many sources and ship it to central processing centers where it then goes through the production process. Milk buyers typically have little say in the standards dairy farmers use for feed, animal treatment, and other aspects of raising cows. The company, responding to consumer demand, is looking to change this production process so it has more say on such issues.

Calls for regulation of the agricultural production process to make similar changes are common. Activists have successfully persuaded many Americans to care about the way animals are treated on the farm. Some have proposed regulations to force farmers to change their practices. The question is whether regulation is the proper method of enacting the changes activists seek.

The private sector has shown it can successfully respond to consumer demands for products produced without socially undesirable processes or ingredients. Last year, I  noted here how chicken giant Perdue shifted to antibiotic-free products. Dannon is responding to similar incentives and is undertaking a similarly costly change. 

All of this comes without the need for government regulation to force the company to comply with a particular set of standards. Dannon’s shake-up of its milk supply chain is yet another example of how private companies react to consumer demands for changes in the way food is produced.

Research assistant Nick Zaiac contributed to this piece