| Company type | Cheese |
|---|---|
| Industry | Dairy industry |
| Founded | 1902 in Tasmania, Australia |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
| Parent | Saputo Inc. |
| Website | www |
King Island Dairy is an Australian dairy factory, which has been operating from King Island in the Bass Strait, since 1902. The dairy makes highly acclaimed and awarded blue, cheddar, brie and camembert specialty cheeses. [1] [2]
The first known dairy, King Island Dairy Factory Co. Ltd, on King Island, was established in 1892.
An additional dairy, King Island Co-operative Dairy Factory Company Limited, was proposed on 22 March 1902, with E. Cooper as chairman and F. J. Robinson as secretary, [3] based on agricultural experts' reports on the climatic suitability of the island for a small scale dairy industry. [4] Construction of the dairy, at Loorana, (£310 for the building and £390 for machinery) commenced in June that year. [5] The first shipment of butter occurred in September. [6] By March 1904 they had 900 cows supplying milk to the dairy. [7] In 1905 the company increased the area of the factory site. [8]
In 1936 Archibald Gunn, established a cheese and butter factory, A. E. Gunn Pty Ltd, at Wickham, which produced the first cheeses on the island. Two years later the business merged with the King Island Co-operative Dairy Factory. [9] [10]
In 1945 there was a proposed merger with the Melbourne-based, Kraft Walker Cheese Company, [11] the proposal however fell through and in 1947 the decision was made to cease cheese production, and the Wickham factory was closed. King Island Dairy Products Co-operative Society Limited continued to produce butter, and subsequently dried milk powder and whole milk.
During the mid-1970s, the King Island Dairy was in financial difficulties, ceasing butter production in 1975, [12] and in 1977 receivers were appointed.
On 1 July 1978, William J. and Robyn Kirk, Interlandi Cheese (Tasmania), bought the King Island Dairy for $180,000. [13] The dairy, now known as King Island Dairy Products, at first, made processed cheese for Kraft Foods to sell to the Middle East. The Kirks in 1984, with financial assistance from the Tasmanian Development Authority, reorientated the company's upmarket cheese production, launching a signature Brie in April 1985. The Tasmanian government dispossessed the Kirks in early 1986, [14] for their outstanding loan, and sold King Island Dairy to Transequity, a Melbourne-based company, for $300,000. Later that year, Transequity was acquired by Agricorp, an agribusiness consultancy.
In 1992 a group of Melbourne investors, bought the shares from Agricorp and converted it into an unlisted public company, the Island Food Company. By 1998 there were over 9,000 cows, mainly Friesian on the island.
National Foods purchased the King Island Dairy in 2002 for $77 million. In 2007, Kirin, a Japanese conglomerate, bought National Foods for $2.8 billion. [15] In 2009, Kirin acquired 100% ownership of Lion Nathan and merged it with National Foods. [16] In 2011, Lion Nathan National Foods separated into two divisions: Lion; and Lion Dairy & Drinks. [17] [18]
In 2019 Saputo Inc, a Canadian multinational, purchased the Lion Dairy and Drinks division from Kirin, which included King Island Dairy. In September 2024, Saputo announced that it would be closing the dairy in mid-2025 after failing to find a buyer. [19]
Cheddar cheese is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset, South West England.
Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated. It is pale in colour with a slight greyish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavour depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to Camembert, which is native to a different region of France. Brie typically contains between 60% and 75% butterfat, slightly higher than Camembert.
Saputo Dairy UK, formerly Dairy Crest Limited, is a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the Milk Marketing Board. Its brands include Saputo Dairy UK, Cathedral City Cheddar Cheese, Country Life Butter, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite and Clover.
Cheer, formerly Coon, is the Australian trademark of a cheddar cheese produced by the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter company, which is majority-owned by Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc.
Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba are two villages near the Princes Highway in Eurobodalla Shire, New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, Central Tilba and surrounding areas had a population of 342.
Coleraine Cheddar is a brand of cheese which originated in Northern Ireland.
Farmers Union is a brand name established by the South Australian Farmers' Co-operative Union Ltd (SAFU), and now owned by Bega Cheese
Dairy Farmers Pty Ltd, originally established in 1900, whose parent company is Australian-owned Bega Cheese, is distributed mainly in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. The core products sold under 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.
Bega Dairy & Drinks is a subsidiary of Australian diversified food company the Bega Group, having been purchased from the Japanese company Kirin in November 2020. While owned by Kirin, it was known as Lion Dairy & Drinks.
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk. During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout.
Fred Walker was an Australian businessman and founder of Fred Walker & Co. and the Fred Walker Company in Melbourne. He also set up Kraft Walker Cheese Co. in partnership with American businessman James L. Kraft in 1926, in order to market Kraft's patented method of processing cheese.
Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited (WCB) is an Australian-based company manufacturing dairy products, majority-owned by Saputo Inc., a Canadian company, that manufactures a range of dairy products under various brands. The business is based in Allansford, Victoria and is the oldest dairy processor in Australia, having been established in 1888. It owns cheese brands CHEER and Cracker Barrel.
Fivemiletown Creamery is based in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and is a producer of handmade speciality soft cheeses and cheddars The company is a farmers' co-operative, and employs around 40 people. The creamery draws its milk supplies mostly from over 60 dairy farmers from across Northern Ireland. The company was founded in 1898 and added cheese production in 1972. Fivemiletown Creamery is the only speciality cheese maker in Northern Ireland. In 2014 Fivemiletown Creamery was acquired by Dale Farm.
Cheese has been produced in Canada since Samuel de Champlain brought cows from Normandy in either 1608 or 1610, The Canadienne breed of cattle is thought to descend from these and other early Norman imports. New France developed soft, unripened cheeses characteristic of its metropole, France. Later British settlers and Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution introduced British styles such as cheddar.
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.
The Bega Group is an Australian diversified food and drinks company with manufacturing sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Founded as an agricultural cooperative in the town of Bega, New South Wales by their dairy suppliers, it became a public company in 2011 when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Close to half of shares publicly traded are still held by Bega's farmer-suppliers. It is currently one of the largest companies in the dairy sector in Australia, with a base milk supply in 2018 of approximately 750 million litres per annum.
Johanne (Hanne) Ane Margrethe Nielsen was a Danish farmer who may have invented Havarti cheese. In the 1800s, Nielsen traveled around Europe to learn about cheesemaking. Her farm was named Havarthigaard and was close to Copenhagen. After returning from her travels, she developed the technique to create a new type of cheese. She was also a teacher, writer, and an accountant for the profit made from her butter and cheese. Her butter and cheese were served to royal families, including a cheese made with cumin that was served to King Christian IX of Denmark. She was denied membership of the Royal Danish Agricultural Society although she had sought the assistance of dairy scientist Thomas Segelcke. Despite being skeptical of female accountants, Segelcke included her accounting method in a book he published.
Dairy is a major industry in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Being known for its dairy production, the state is often called "America's Dairyland." The industry is prominent in official state symbols—being displayed on the state's license plates, state's slogan, and on the state quarter.
