Fairlife Just Opened a $650 Million Plant in Webster — Here Is What 380 New Jobs Mean for Monroe County

Fairlife opened its Webster plant on August 20 with a ribbon-cutting attended by Governor Kathy Hochul and Monroe County leaders. For the Rochester region, the building behind that ceremony represents a $650 million investment — one of the largest single-site capital commitments in Coca-Cola's history — and it is already running production.

What Fairlife Is — and Why It Picked Webster

What Fairlife Is — and Why It Picked Webster

Fairlife makes ultra-filtered milk and Core Power protein shakes, products that have been gaining shelf space in grocery stores across the country for years. The company operates under the Coca-Cola umbrella, and according to WXXI's report from the opening, the Webster investment is described as one of the largest capital investments in the history of the Coca-Cola Company.

CEO Becca Kerr spoke at the ribbon-cutting about surging demand for Fairlife's products and said Webster is a key part of how the company plans to meet that demand for years to come, according to WXXI.

A $650 million commitment in Monroe County is the answer to a real capacity problem — and Webster is where Fairlife solved it.

The Scale of the Bet: Jobs, Shifts, and What Full Production Looks Like

The Scale of the Bet: Jobs, Shifts, and What Full Production Looks Like

Fairlife has created approximately 380 full-time jobs in the Monroe County region, with hiring running ahead of schedule. Three production lines are being brought online, with the goal of running all of them 24 hours a day in the second half of 2026.

For the Rochester manufacturing economy, 380 full-time jobs is a real number. These are positions in a food production facility that runs around the clock — steady employment that doesn't evaporate when a tech sector softens or a startup relocates. A plant at this scale, already staffed and already producing, is the kind of anchor that shows up in a region's economic story as a turning point.

Built to Grow: Why the Expansion Story Is Already Starting

Built to Grow: Why the Expansion Story Is Already Starting

One detail in the WXXI report stands out: interior spaces in the plant were deliberately left unbuilt, waiting for expansion. Fairlife designed this facility with the next phase already in mind.

Kerr said it at the ceremony: "While today is a big day, it's really just one step in our Webster journey."

Governor Hochul was direct at the ribbon-cutting, according to WXXI:

"This is the next place for your expansion."

— Governor Kathy Hochul, Fairlife ribbon-cutting, Webster, August 20, 2026

That public commitment is what a company evaluates when deciding where to place the next capital investment. Three-line, 24-hour operations are scheduled for the second half of 2026.