Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia (ODFA) was formed by four sustainability-minded dairy farmers just over a decade ago. Fast forward 11 years and the group is six times the size and is taking some big strides in the sector.
The co-operative, which already supplies 80 per cent of all Australian certified organic milk, this year began processing two new product categories.
In partnership with Aussie Farmers Direct, ODFA began producing the first commercial quantities of organic butter out of a previously disused processing facility in the small Victorian town of Camperdown.
Though Aussie Farmers Direct owns the facility, ODFA sourced the butter processing equipment from Europe, and between them they operate the largest organic butter manufacturing operation in Australia.
Some 23 Victorian organic farmers now own a stake in the co-operative and are producing enough milk to make 150 tonnes of butter this year. The product is being sold in Woolworths and independent supermarkets, and according to ODFA CEO Bruce Symons, butter sales doubled in the first six months.
“There’s a demand for Australian organic butter on a commercial scale,” he says. “We are making half a million to a million packs per year.”
In nearby Timboon, ODFA has also forged a joint venture with well known French-born cheesemaker Matthieu Megard, and together they make artisan-style organic French- and Swiss-style cheeses.
The cheeses are hand-made by Megard in small batches in his facility from ODFA milk, and though these types of products have traditionally been the domain of the gourmet deli, a shift by consumers increasingly wanting artisan style cheese has seen ODFA’s new Mousseron cheese, which is made by Megard, find its way on to supermarket shelves.
Woolworths category manager Neil Worrall says the retailer, which is now stocking the cheese, is seeing growth in artisan cheeses in excess of 140 per cent.
The popularity of organic dairy products is also growing sharply according to the latest figures. The category saw exceptional growth of 63 per cent since 2010, according to the 2012 Australian Organic Market Report.
Though ODFA supplies other companies including milk processor Parmalat and organic yoghurt company Five:am, the company wants to build its own brands, and the success of its most recent ventures have emboldened the group, Symons says.
As a result, ODFA plans to expand into other dairy products, and it also has plans to invest in its own facility in the area, he says.
“The next step is to develop our own facility. We have six warehouses and 11 manufacturing locations and for a company our size, that’s becoming difficult to control so we need to consolidate some of those under the same roof.”
