Fenton Food and Beverage, a new company owned by Yahya Abbas, the founder of Ya Ya Foods, received a state grant from Michigan to build a $56.2M plant-based milk factory. This facility will be the first in North America to utilize a new technology for producing plant-based milk by extracting milk directly from nuts using water.

The grant awarded by Michigan's MSF board is contingent on the creation of at least 96 new jobs by Fenton Food. The company plans to purchase a production facility spanning 75,000-100,000 sq ft and hire various workers to operate the plant. Despite a recent decline in non-dairy milk retail sales, the plant-based sector continues to see growth in certain segments, with companies like Oatly investing to meet increasing demand for their products.