Aussie Farmers Direct (AFD) and Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia are jointly investing $1.2 million in a new butter manufacturing venture that will produce traditional and certified organic butter.
The new processing facility will be part of an upgrade to the existing Aussie Farmers Dairy, located in Camperdown, Western Victoria, and will include include raw material handling, equipment and butter-making machinery.
As part of the joint venture, two different streams of butter production will take place. AFD will convert its own cream into Aussie Farmers Direct branded butter packs. Meanwhile, a certified organic butter will be produced using organic milk supplied by the 22 dairy farmers who comprise the Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia, a farmer owned co-operative that has been operating for 10 years. This will be sold both under their own banner as well as their second brand, True Organic.
Butter production at Aussie Farmers Dairy is expected to start by the end of June 2013 or possibly earlier and in its first full year of production, the new butter making facility is expected to produce between one and two million packs of butter each year, with the capacity to produce double this quantity as and when required.
Aussie Farmers Dairy operated by Aussie Farmers Direct has already created 30 local jobs in the Corangamite Shire with its branded milk production facility. It is expected to increase this local workforce by up to a total of 100 positions over the next few years with roles ranging from managers, technologists and supervisors through to semi-skilled operators across both milk and butter production.
Bruce Symons, CEO of Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia, said that until now, it has been virtually impossible to source commercial quantities of a locally produced organic butter.
“...The joint venture represents a big step forward for both us and our customers”, said Symons. “Importantly, Aussie Farmers Direct are well aligned to the values of our co-operative which is about fostering a direct connection to the land and the production of food using sustainable practices.
“This is the second direct investment in manufacturing by the organic dairy co-operative in the past six months, following its joint venture with the high-end French cheese maker L’Artisan Cheese.
Symons claims these joint ventures are part of a strategy to develop highly distinctive dairy products from what they believe to be remarkable milk.
