The industrially important lactic add bacteria are used extensively for the production of fermented dairy, meat and vegetable products. Recent developments in genetic engineering have resulted in the construction of starter cultures with unique and improved metabolic capabilities. The essential elements required for genetic manipulation of microorganisms of interest to the food industry will be discussed including a general description of host/vector systems, gene transfer systems, and strategies for cloning and expression of homologous and heterologous genes in the dairy lactococci. Electroporation has been demonstrated to be a very effective method for physically introducing DNA into Gram‐positive microorganisms. Recent results obtained with two commercially available electroporation units, a BTX Transfector 100 and a BioRad Gene Pulser, will be discussed. Examples of successful cloning experiments in the lactococci will be highlighted. Finally, the social and regulatory issues surrounding the utilization of genetically engineered organisms in the food supply will be addressed.