THE South Australian Dairyfarmers’ Association (SADA) is launching its own brand of milk – SADA Fresh.
The milk will be processed and packaged under a special licensing agreement by dairy foods company Parmalat at its Clarence Gardens facility and sold exclusively through Coles supermarkets across the State.
Forty cents of the proceeds from every two-litre container sold will go to a new fund to finance projects that will help secure the future viability of the South Australian dairy industry, benefiting local farmers and their communities.
SA Minister for Agriculture Food and Fisheries Gail Gago, Coles chief operating officer John Durkan and SADA president David Basham will come together at the new Coles supermarket in Rundle Mall this morning (Friday, October 25) to celebrate the launch.
“Our dairyfarmers are often asked by people what they can do to support the industry which has been going through some pretty tough times because of low prices, poor seasons and rising production costs,” SADA president David Basham said.
“Now consumers can show their support in a very tangible way by purchasing SADA Fresh. It will help to safeguard an industry that is vital to the State and make sure they have the choice in the future of buying quality, fresh local dairy produce.”
While quite a few privately-owned, farm-based enterprises have begun marketing their own products in recent years, this is the first time in Australia that a dairy industry association has launched its own label.
“SADA believes this approach could prove to be a model for other agricultural industries looking for ways to fund research and development, and that it will certainly encourage innovation and value adding in South Australia’s dairy sector, leading to new products and new markets, both domestic and export,” Mr Basham said.
Coles chief operating officer John Durkan congratulated SADA on their initiative.
“SADA approached us with the suggestion of creating a regional milk brand in South Australia and now after a significant amount of work by SADA, Parmalat and our buying team to finalise the sourcing, licensing, processing and packaging, we are delighted to sell SADA Fresh milk in more than 50 stores across the State,” Mr Durkan said.
“This is a landmark day in South Australia’s dairy industry, which we hope will give dairyfarmers here greater confidence in their future.
“By creating their own new dedicated brand, SADA has created new opportunities for South Australian milk and established a mechanism to raise funds for their industry through sales.
“We believe it will be popular among South Australians because we know shoppers like to buy locally produced milk and they like to support local farmers.”
Initially, two products will carry the SADA Fresh brand – full cream and low fat milk. Parmalat has guaranteed that it will contain only South Australian milk, sourced by the company.
“We are pleased to be associated, as local producers here in South Australia, with the SADA initiative,” Parmalat national business manager Alex Sicard said.
“Parmalat has a long and proud history in the dairy industry. We have supported farmers in Australia for more than 70 years and we intend to do so well into future.”
While the label is being sold exclusively through Coles for the first 12 months, there is potential in the future to make the brand available through other retailers, depending on its success in the first year and consumer demand.
“The total amount of drinking milk sold in a year in SA is 220 million litres and we would like to hope that in the longer term we can secure 1% of the market, or 2.2 million litres,” Mr Basham said.
SADA is also considering expanding the range into other dairy products which may be licensed to other manufacturers.
