Pactum Tetra Pak dairy facility pays off for Freedom Foods

Pactum Dairy Group (PDG), part of the Freedom Foods Group, has announced an agreement to supply premium long life dairy milk to Bright Dairy, one of China's largest dairy companies.

Pactum will provide long term supply of value added dairy milk products in UHT (long life) packaging formats. The signing ceremony was overseen by China’s Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Tony Abbott this week.

Bright Dairy is one of China's largest dairy companies, and it makes fresh milk, yoghurt, cheese and powder products. It sells these products under six well-known value-added brands, including Excellence Plus and Momchilovtsi (an iconic fermented UHT yoghurt drink in China).

These brands are distributed all over China through 400 distributors and in excess of 400,000 sales outlets, and its total sales in the 2013 financial year were $US2.6 billion.

Pactum's recently commissioned new $45m UHT (Aseptic) dairy beverage facility in Shepparton has four Tetra Pak filling lines for the manufacture of high value added dairy beverages with a focus on customers in China and South East Asia.

Freedom Foods managing director, Rory Macleod said the company was pleased to be aligned with what is recognised as a market leading, high quality company with the resources and capability to market and distribute premium dairy products.

“Australia has a unique advantage in the supply and manufacture of high quality premium agriculture based foods. With increasing demand from markets in China and SE Asia for high quality value added product, Australia, through companies such as Pactum, is well placed to play an important role in this supply chain.”

“PDG will look to further building on its relationship with Bright Dairy in the longer term as it expands its product and market presence,” he said.