Industry Food Products Dairy Founded 15 January 1900 | Area served Australia Headquarters Victoria, Australia Parent organization Lion Dairy & Drinks | |
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Founder Dairy Farmers Co-operative Milk Company, Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia Owner Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. Website www.dairyfarmers.com.au Motto "Since 1900" & "Milk Matters" | ||
Dairy Farmers Pty Ltd, originally established in 1900, is a brand owned by Lion Dairy & Drinks, and is distributed mainly New South Wales & Queensland in Australia. The core products sold under that Dairy Farmers brand are fresh milk (in NSW and Queensland only) and UHT "long-life" milk (Australia wide), as well as various other dairy snacks. It supplies products to local and international markets such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Contents
LD&D's factories (which carry the "Dairy Farmers" brand) are located at:
These sites are also the locations printed on the back of all fresh milk bottles in NSW and QLD respectively.
Kirin Holdings Company Limited of Japan, via its subsidiary National Foods, acquired the company on 27 November 2008. Kirin Holdings renamed "National Foods" as "Lion Dairy & Drinks" in 2009.
History
On 15 January 1900 (1900-01-15), the Dairy Farmers Co-operative Milk Co. Limited was created by 65 stakeholders, most being dairy farmers in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The aim of the co-operative was to market their milk and butter products effectively to city customers. Dairy Farmers was 100% Australian owned by Australian dairy farmers for 107 years, and ultimately had 11 processing facilities. In 2005, Dairy Farmers had the third-highest dairy sales in Australia, with Norco Co-operative second and National Foods, under its brand "Pura", first.
In 2008, Dairy Farmers was acquired by Kirin Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, part of the Kirin Group of Japan, and became a 'brand' of National Foods, ending 108 years as a co-operative company. After Kirin Holdings acquired the alcoholic beverage company, Lion Nathan, in 2009, National Foods & Lion Nathan were merged to become "Lion Nathan National Foods". Lion Nathan National Foods became Lion and Lion Dairy & Drinks in 2011.
Dairy Farmers' head office was located in Homebush Bay, Sydney until 2008. Lion Dairy & Drinks has its head office is in Melbourne, but LD&D's parent, Lion, has its corporate head office in Sydney.
Brands
Dairy Farmers brand is mainly used for fresh milk (in NSW and Queensland), UHT "long-life" milk (Australia wide), "Think & Creamy" yoghurt, and desserts, creams, custard and buttermilk.
Dairy Farmers produced the "Ski" yoghurt range (its main competitor being Yoplait) under licence from brand owner Nestlé, but after the company was acquired by National Foods (Kirin Holdings) in 2008, Fonterra purchased the "Ski" brand (still under licence from Nestlé), with the brand name changing to "Nestlé Ski" in 2012. In 2016 Fonterra divested its yoghurt range, which includes "Nestlé Ski" and "Nestlé Soleil", selling it to Parmalat.
As a company (prior to 2009), Dairy Farmers marketed a number of brands: a selection of milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, custard and flavoured milk varieties, sold under the main brand. The company had 11 processing plants in Australia, including at Wetherill Park in Sydney.