SAN MATEO, Calif., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Windfall Bio, a leader in methane-to-value solutions, today announced the successful completion of a pilot in Petaluma, California, with Straus Family Creamery and Correia Family Dairy, one of Straus’s twelve supplying organic dairy farms. The pilot deployed Windfall’s nature-based solution to capture methane using natural microbes known as mems. Mems consume waste methane and transform it into valuable outputs like organic fertilizer, saving dairy farmers money while reducing methane emissions. The successful pilot establishes a pathway for major food retailers and their suppliers to reduce Scope 3 emissions (all indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occur in a company’s value chain but are not directly owned or controlled by the company) while realizing an economic return from organic fertilizer production.
Windfall’s pioneering bioreactor offers a cost-effective and simple-to-operate design for farmers to easily install and operate across agricultural sources of methane. Placed next to a manure lagoon at the Correia farm, the mems in the bioreactor consumed biogas continuously for more than a month and converted >85% of the methane from manure on site without the need for pre-treatment of the gas or any external sources of energy for the methane conversion. The bioreactor consumed raw manure biogas without disruption and was able to remove hydrogen sulfide from the manure gas, potentially reducing odors and improving local air quality.
“The pilot results mark a key milestone in scaling Windfall’s methane-to-value technology,” said Josh Silverman, co-founder and CEO of Windfall Bio. “By demonstrating the robustness of Windfall’s mems and bioreactor, we have shown that industries like agriculture can operate more efficiently and profitably by reducing their methane footprint. As a technology innovator, we are excited to expand our work with Straus Family Creamery, a leader in deploying nature-based climate solutions, to build a more sustainable farming system.”
“Windfall’s technology supports Straus’ work to improve the economic viability of dairy farming for small-scale family farms while reducing climate impact,” said Joseph Button, Straus’s VP of Sustainability and Strategic Impact. “The project results were extremely impressive, and we are evaluating further opportunities to deploy this technology throughout our network of organic dairy farm suppliers.”
“Straus Family Creamery has a goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 by supporting on-farm practices on its twelve supplying organic dairy farms,” said Founder Albert Straus. “We’re excited to work with Whole Foods Market and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund to advance nature-based solutions that address climate and food security, supporting our shared vision for thriving local food and farming systems.”
Straus Family Creamery is a leading voice in the dairy industry and is pioneering innovative technologies to improve sustainability, protect the environment, and mitigate climate change. The company sells its premium certified organic dairy products—including milk, cream, yogurt, and ice cream—at Whole Foods Market, who introduced Windfall to Straus and helped facilitate the pilot project through Windfall’s partnership with Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. Windfall previously received funding from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, which has been used to develop the infrastructure deployed in this pilot project.
"Through collaboration with suppliers, we're accelerating our carbon-reduction efforts across our supply chain as part of our purpose to nourish people and the planet," said Caitlin Leibert, Vice President of Sustainability at Whole Foods Market. "By treating the environment as a core stakeholder, we're working to build a more resilient food system that ensures long-term food security and economic growth for our farmers."
Windfall’s mems consume methane as a food source, transforming it into nitrogen-rich biomass that can be processed into high-value organic fertilizer and directly used on a dairy farm or sold in the market. Windfall’s bioreactor technology allows for continuous monitoring and remote operation, reducing the burden on the farmer for operation while also providing quantitative, auditable data to show the beneficial impact of the process.
Straus Family Creamery is now evaluating commercial-scale deployments at additional supplying dairy farms within their network. In tandem, Windfall is conducting larger demonstration-scale deployments across the agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management sectors to generate additional field data and further validate the robustness of its methane-to-value solution for other industrial use cases.
For more information or to explore partnership opportunities, visit www.windfall.bio.
About Windfall Bio
Windfall Bio captures and transforms waste methane into value. The company’s nature-based solution harnesses natural microbes known as mems to convert methane from any source and of any concentration into valuable outputs, like fertilizer for organic farming, carbon credits, and progress toward sustainability goals. This approach allows methane-intensive industries such as agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management to operate more efficiently while improving their profitability and environmental impact.
Founded in 2022 and based in San Mateo, CA, Windfall is venture-backed by top-tier firms including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, B37 Ventures, Baruch Future Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, Global Brain (through its Norinchukin Innovation Fund L.P.), Incite Ventures, MCJ Collective, Mayfield, Positive Ventures, Prelude Ventures, and UNTITLED (a fund backed by the Tetra Laval family). To learn more about how Windfall is transforming methane from a costly liability into a powerful tool for efficiency and profitability, visit www.windfall.bio.
About Straus Family Creamery
Based in Northern California, Straus Family Creamery was the first certified organic creamery west of the Mississippi when it launched in 1994, and today it is known for its commitment to sustaining family farms, protecting the environment, mitigating climate change, and crafting the highest quality premium organic dairy products. Its line of all organic, minimally processed milks and cream, slowly-cultured yogurts, European-style butters, ice creams, and more is made with organic milk supplied by family farms in California’s Marin and Sonoma Counties.
Founded by Albert Straus – a second-generation dairy farmer and climate action pioneer who is currently on track to implement a carbon-neutral organic dairy farming model believed to be the first of its kind – Straus Family Creamery is collaborating with its supplying dairy farms to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. The family-owned company advocates for local organic dairy farmers whose farms utilize organic and regenerative carbon farming practices to improve soil health and capture carbon from the atmosphere.
Contact
V2 Communications for Windfall Bio
windfallbio@v2comms.com
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