Dairy Farmers Pty Ltd, originally established in 1900, whose parent company is Japanese-owned Lion Dairy & Drinks, and is distributed mainly New South Wales & Queensland in Australia. The core products sold under that Dairy Farmers brand are fresh milk and UHT "long-life" milk, as well as various other dairy snacks. It supplies products to local and international markets such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. LD&D's factories are located at:
These sites are also the locations printed on the back of all fresh milk bottles in NSW and QLD respectively. Kirin Holdings Company Limited of Japan, via its subsidiary National Foods, acquired the company in November 2008, and renamed "National Foods" as "Lion Dairy & Drinks" the following year. China's Mengniu Dairy expressed an interest to purchase Lion Dairy & Drinks for $600 million, in 2019. Whilst the ACCC gave clearance in Feb 20, the sale it yet to receive FIRB approval.
History
On, 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. 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 Pty Ltd, part of the Kirin Group of Japan, 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.
Brands
Dairy Farmers brand is mainly used for fresh milk, UHT "long-life" milk, "Thick & Creamy" yoghurt, and desserts, creams, custard and buttermilk. Dairy Farmers produced the "Ski" yoghurt range under licence from brand owner Nestlé, but after the company was acquired by National Foods in 2008, Fonterra purchased the "Ski" brand, 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, 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.
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", with head offices in Sydney & Melbourne respectively.
