A2 vs. A2/A2 milk. Yea, we switched. Why? What's the difference?

Over a year ago, Miller’s Bio Farm got a cease and desist letter from a company that will remain unnamed. It said that we needed to STOP using the term “A2 Milk”. Why? They have a trademark on the term and using the term constitutes “trademark infringement”.

We wrote a friendly letter back saying that “A2 milk” is a common term, and we shouldn’t have to stop using it. We also explained that the farmer is Amish and does not believe in using courts to resolve issues. We preferred to resolve the issue amicably.

A year of silence went by. Then, we received a second cease and desist letter saying the same thing - Miller’s Bio Farm needs to stop using the term “A2 Milk”. 

At this point, farmer Aaron felt we needed to get an attorney involved, so we did.

The attorney wrote a letter arguing (in legalese) that Miller’s using the term “A2 Milk” is a fair use of a descriptive term. The reason we know this is because there are thousands of publications - scientific papers, blog posts, websites, books, etc - that all use the term “A2 Milk” to describe milk containing 100% beta-casein protein.

The unnamed company wrote us back (more quickly this time) but still did not agree. We had two options - take it to court or switch our terminology. For obvious reasons, we chose the latter. 

So… from this point forward, we will use the term “A2/A2” to describe our cow dairy (A2/A2 Milk, A2/A2 Yogurt, A2/A2 Butter, etc). To be extra clear, nothing is changing except the product names.

All of our cows will still be genetically tested to verify that they produce milk with 100% A2 beta-casein protein. The ingredients on our dairy products will still note “A2/A2 milk”. We are simply switching the terminology.

In case you’re new to A2/A2 dairy, you can learn more about what A2/A2 milk is and why it might be better for your body here.

And, maybe this is a good thing…

The genetic test results we get for our cows says whether the milk produced is A1/A1, A1/A2, or A2/A2. So it is more scientifically accurate to say “A2/A2 Dairy”.

A1/A1 means that the cow produces milk with 100% A1 beta-casein protein.

A1/A2 means that the cow produces milk with a mix of A1 and A2 beta-casein protein.

A2/A2 means that the cow products milk with 100% A2 beta-casein protein.

What do you think? Do you care if your dairy is labeled “A2” or “A2/A2”? How do situations like this make you feel?

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