Dairy farmers nationwide remain confident of the long-term demand for dairy products, despite many facing a one in 35 year step down in milk price for the 2009-2010 season. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) estimates average farm business profit to fall from $74,100 to -$6,000 in 2008/09 – with the percentage of farms losing money increasing from 38% to 62%. Despite this, 66% of farmers surveyed in Dairy Australia’s National Dairy Farmer Survey (NDFS)... ...Read more »

National Foods has announced that Parmalat will purchase some of their fresh milk manufacturing operations in New South Wales and South Australia after the competition watchdog requested divestments from the dairy firm when they purchased Dairy Farmers last year. The deal, which is subject to the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), will see Parmalat acquire a portfolio of fresh milk assets across the two states, licences to market brands and distribution networks... ...Read more »

Fonterra Co-operative Group, the world’s largest dairy exporter, has announced the appointment of Jonathan Mason as its new Chief Financial Officer. The dairy group also announced earlier this week that they had purchased the rights to the Ski brand three years ahead of originally planned. Mr Mason, who will take the reins from February 16, is a highly experienced finance executive and joins Fonterra from US-based company Cabot Corporation, where he has been Executive Vice President and Chief... ...Read more »

Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory and National Foods have completed agreements to form a joint venture, Australian Cheese Company Pty Ltd (ACC), to operate the cheese business of Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (Dairy Farmers). ACC will be owned 50:50 by NF and WCB, and will own and operate the retail cheese assets of Dairy Farmers – which were acquired for $910m by National Foods in November 2008. WCB will contribute $105 million for its share in ACC. Neil Kearney, CEO and Managing... ...Read more »

The takeover of Dairy Farmers by Kirin subsidiary National Foods was officially completed on Tuesday, with the cheese joint venture between National Foods and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter (WCB) expected to begin operation early next year. Dairy Farmers Chairman Ian Langdon, who along with other directors will resign from the Dairy Farmers Board today, said the $910m acquisition of the business by National Foods stood to have a positive impact on Dairy Farmers’ shareholders as well as the... ...Read more »

Australian dairy Co-operative Dairy Farmers has been awarded with the world’s best dairy innovation at the 2008 International Dairy Federation (IDF) Marketing Awards for their Thick & Creamy yoghurt .Held in Mexico at the World Dairy Summit last week, the 2008 IDF Marketing Awards received 24 entries from 10 leading dairy companies world-wide. Dairy Farmers General Manager for Marketing & Innovation John Wardley, said the Co-operative had won the prestigious innovation award based on... ...Read more »

The purchase of Dairy Farmers by National Foods will be implemented next week after receiving court approval today… Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (ACF), which trades as Dairy Farmers, today announced that the National Foods offer to acquire all of the shares in the Co-operative had been approved by the New South Wales Supreme Court. National Foods won shareholder approval last week for their $910 million proposal. ACF Chairman Ian Langdon said the court’s approval of the scheme... ...Read more »

Australian Co-operative Foods Limited (ACF), which trades as Dairy Farmers, and National Foods today announced that ACF members had approved the acquisition proposal by National Foods. On August 25 Dairy Farmers announced that National Foods had outbid other interested parties, with their $910 million offer. The deal involved a joint venture with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter for the cheese business of Dairy Farmers. National Foods have also since come to an arrangement to allow Fonterra to acquire... ...Read more »

This week, Coon, the iconic Australian Cheddar cheese block, launched new resealable packaging, representing a market first for the popular everyday cheese block segment. The innovation is designed to provide consumers with the functional benefits of convenience and more effective storage. The unique double rail reseal zip helps to stop the cheese from drying out and in doing so, offers consumers a superior storage solution compared to what is currently available now for the cheese block, according... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted final authorisation for the continuation of milk pricing and milk purchasing policies between Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative (DFMC) Limited and Australian Cooperative Food Limited (ACF) following the sale of ACF to National Foods. DFMC acquires raw milk from its farmer members and sells this milk to ACF for processing into dairy products. National Foods proposed a $910m takeover of ACF in August, which received the approval of both... ...Read more »