AMERICAN CASEIN COMPANY (AMCO), based in Burlington, New Jersey, is a privately owned corporation with more than 45 years experience importing casein into the United States and manufacturing functional dairy protein ingredients for the food and beverage industry.

Richard L. Shipley, a University of Michigan alumnus with a Masters Degree in chemistry, founded American Casein Company. As a young chemist, Shipley joined the nation’s War Production Board in Washington during World War II, where his job was to procure and allocate casein and other materials to manufacturers. At the time, casein was used in many industrial applications such as paper coating, textiles, leather finishing, casein plastics and adhesives, but it was not used in edible application. Shipley continued to learn all he could about casein. After working a dozen or so years for a casein com-pany based in Chicago, Shipley launched his own business in Cam-den, New Jersey and used his background and creativity to become one of first two manufacturers in the U.S. to process casein for edible application. American Casein Company remained in New Jersey, but continued to expand, moving its location to Riverside, Pennsauken, and ultimately to its present site in Burlington. This location is now headquarters for its spray drying division, American Custom Drying Company, which produces spray-dried caseinates for the food industry. Another facility was added at Delmar, Maryland to blend powder food ingredients. The fact that casein is scarcely manufactured in North America is generally unknown. Since 1956, AMCO has imported casein from its approved sup-pliers worldwide. Another uncommon fact for the layman: casein is manufactured from cow’s milk. AMCO’s expertise with casein and dairy proteins starts with its cumulative knowledge, experience, and know-how with the cow, the cow’s milk, the dairy farmer, and the casein manufacturing process.

More than a decade ago AMCO responded to the demand from the food industry to provide kosher certified dairy ingredients. It was soon apparent that in order to acquire kosher certification at the level of high quality ingredient anticipated from AMCO brand products, a well-respected rabbinical service would be required. AMCO’s first choice for this service was the Orthodox Union, a highly regarded organization from New York, considered the standard in the food industry. Now, with over fifteen years of cooperative
planning and coordination between AMCO and the Orthodox Union, AMCO enjoys the benefits of having OU quality kosher certified ingredients in its product line. The cooperation between AMCO and the Orthodox Union is well earned. Historically, AMCO buyers of raw ingredients would travel the world searching for the dairy farms and casein manufacturing facilities that would meet their high standards. These high standards were now the mutual concern of the company as well as the Orthodox Union. Representatives from both organizations would travel into the far-reaching corners of the
world to prepare for and assist in the certification process of a kosher casein manufacturing plant. . Several successful overseas facilities have been certified kosher through the efforts of AMCO and the Orthodox Union working together to meet these high standards. Stateside, AMCO and the Orthodox Union worked diligently to meet these certification
requirements at its spray drying facility in Burlington, NJ and blending facility in Delmar, Maryland. Today, AMCO offers a full line of kosher certified casein, caseinate and other milk proteins such as milk protein concentrate, milk protein isolate, and hydrolyzed pro-teins, as well as dairy blends. AMCO brand kosher dairy ingredients are used in formulations for health and nutritional products, beverages, bakery applications, food and pharmaceutical applications for protein enrichment, and in a variety of products for their functional properties such as binding and emulsification. AMCO manufactures spray dried sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, potassium caseinate, and milk protein isolate, all high quality dairy ingredients bearing the OU emblem. For over forty-five years, American Casein Company has provided powdered protein ingredients to Fortune 500 companies in the health & nutritional, beverage, food and bakery industries. The company is based in Burlington, New Jersey.