Dairy Farmers Pty Ltd

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.[3] 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,[4][5] and became a 'brand' of National Foods, which Kirin has bought the previous year, 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.

In November 2019, China's Mengniu Dairy purchased Dairy Farmers’ parent company Lion Dairy & Drinks from Kirin, for approximately AUD $600 million (US$407 million).[6] The deal was cancelled in August 2020 due to approval from Australian regulators being unlikely to materialize because of rising geopolitical tensions between China and Australia.[7]

On November 23, 2020, it was announced that Bega Cheese would purchase Lion Dairy & Drinks, and all subsidiaries including Dairy Farmers for a reported AUD $550 Million. [8] This would make Dairy Farmers Australian owned for the first time since 2008.

Dairy Farmers brand is mainly used for fresh milk (in NSW and Queensland), UHT "long-life" milk (Australia wide), "Thick & 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.

• 1900 – Company established (The Dairy Farmers Co-operative Milk Co. Limited)
• 1935 – Established first bottling plant in Sydney
• Mid-1960s – Began producing cottage cheese and flavored yogurts
• 1977 – Invested in Ultra High Temperature (UHT) production
• 1989 – Acquisitions and mergers saw the formation of, Australian Co-operative Foods (ACF), to be known as Dairy Farmers
• 1993 – Acquired Dairy Vale (SA), Midland Milk (Vic), Malanda Co-operative (FNQ), and Queensco-Unity Dairyfoods Co-operative (SEQ)
• 1997 – Acquired the COON, Mil Lel and Fred Walker cheese brands, and the licence for the Cracker Barrel brand. Merged with Malanda Dairy Foods and integrated the Dairy Vale business
• 2005 – Restructured and refocused the company. Separated the FMCG business from the milk supply co-operative
• 2008 – Acquired by Japanese-owned food and beverage company Kirin Holdings. Dairy Farmers' became a brand of National Foods.
• 2009 – National Foods became Lion Nathan National Foods, after Kirin Co. Ltd acquired 100% of Lion.
• 2011 – Lion Nathan National Foods separated into two new divisions, "Lion" and "Lion Dairy & Drinks" (LD&D Milk Pty Ltd and LD&D Foods Pty Ltd), with head offices in Sydney & Melbourne respectively.

• Dairy Farmers