Woolworths to expand Farmers’ Own milk to Western Australia
Australian supermarket group Woolworths has announced that it will introduce its Farmers’ Own milk brand, which will be sourced directly from farmers in the Margaret River region in Western Australia, across its 89 stores in the State.
Woolworths buys Farmers’ Own milk directly from farmers rather than through a processor. The Farmers’ Own brand has so far only been available in New South Wales where a highly successful trial with Manning Valley dairy farmers led to it being sold across the state. Woolworths said sales had grown substantially since the introduction of the Farmers’ Own brand, with customers “loving its high quality and great taste”.
The milk is permeate free and is available in three varieties; full cream and Hi-Lo homogenised milk and full cream unhomogenised milk with the cream on top. It’s milk just how the farmers like it.
Woolworths General Manager of Fresh Food, Ziggy Kwarcinski, said the product had proven to be a success for farmers, for Woolworths and for its customers.
“We are extremely pleased about how well our New South Wales customers have received Farmers’ Own milk. We know they appreciate a great local product,” Mr Kwarcinski said. “The three varieties have sold very strongly through the trial in New South Wales so we’re delighted that we can bring a West Australian version to our customers. The return of unhomogenised milk with the cream on top has been a hit,” he said.
Western Australian dairy farmer Peter Evans said he was “delighted to be able to work directly with Woolworths to bring our milk straight from our farms to customers”.
“It’s an opportunity to get closer to the people who actually buy and drink our milk,” Mr Evans said. “Farmers want a fair price for their milk and we think customers would like to see that too. This new direct relationship with Woolworths is giving us what we need and putting a great product in the market,” he said.
Woolworths said the relationship gave the farmers “end-to-end transparency from shed to shelf, a longer term contract and a closer relationship with their customers”.
