Farmers Union is a brand name established by the South Australian Farmers' Co-operative Union Ltd (SAFU), and now owned by Bega Cheese [1]
At a meeting in Jamestown, South Australia on 28 February 1888, a committee formed to establish a grain "producers' union to combat the effects of depressed agricultural prices and the power of dealers". In October, John Pearce, [2] Thomas Mitchell, [3] Alex McCallum and others floated the "South Australian Farmers' (later Co-operative) Union Ltd" with a paid-up capital of under £300, ninety-four shareholders, John Pearce as managing director, Thomas Mitchell and Alex McCallum directors, and George Lake [4] as secretary.
Pearce was elected chairman, and remained a director until 1902. His eldest son Edward James Pearce later became a director. Mitchell succeeded Pearce as chairman. Lake later became manager, and continued as secretary-manager until 1895.
In 1893 the union declared its first profit.
In 1895 the head office was transferred to Adelaide. A merchandise store was established at Port Adelaide, and business was diversified to include dealing in wheat-sacks, machinery and superphosphate. Mitchell died in 1908 after 20 years of leadership; his son Robert [5] later became a director. [3]
Dairying was for many years a thriving business with the South Australian Farmers' Union opening a factory in Stansbury in 1923. At its peak it produced 2,400 pounds of butter a week. Increasing wool prices saw cows being replaced by sheep: less labour-intensive sheep were providing a better return for farmers. The butter factory closed in 1951. [6]
Irrigation settlements were established along the lower Murray River in the early 1900s, and a dairy industry developed. In 1922 the South Australian Farmers Union opened a factory in Murray Bridge. From 1919 to the mid-1940s the milk and cream was collected by small, fast and powerful boats; the South Australian Farmers Union operated a fleet which included the Loyalty, the Union, the Co-operation and the Progress. [7]
Its main competitor in Adelaide was AMSCOL – the Adelaide Milk Supply Co-operative Limited. The company was taken over by the South Australian Farmers Union and Dairy Vale in 1978. [8] [9]
Farmers Union became part of the Adelaide Steamship Company, and was included in the public float of National Foods in 1991, which was subsequently acquired by Lion Nathan, which was subsequently acquired by Japan's Kirin in 2007. [10] In November 2019 China's Mengniu Dairy purchased Lion Dairy from Kirin. [11]
Bega Cheese announced on the 26 November 2020 that it had agreed terms to purchase Lion Dairy & Drinks for $534 million. [12] The sale was completed in January 2021. [13]
Flavored milk is a sweetened dairy drink made with milk, sugar, flavorings, and sometimes food colorings. It may be sold as a pasteurized, refrigerated product, or as an ultra-high-temperature (UHT) treated product not requiring refrigeration. It may also be made in restaurants or homes by mixing flavorings into milk.
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ $22 billion, making it New Zealand's largest company. It is the sixth-largest dairy company in the world as of 2022, as well as the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
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An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities.
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Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited was a dairy-processing co-operative corporation. In 2018, following financial difficulties and difficulties with suppliers over sustainable prices, the business assets were sold to Saputo Inc, a publicly-listed Canadian dairy company and later the trading name of the business was changed to AG Warehouse. The co-operative was placed into liquidation in 2020.
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Lion is an alcoholic beverage company that operates in Australia and New Zealand, and a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. It produces and markets a range of beer and cider in Australia, and wine in New Zealand and the United States through Distinguished Vineyards & Wine Partners. It acts as distributors for a range of spirits in New Zealand, but does not own any distilleries outright, although holding a 50% share of Four Pillars Gin in Victoria.
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