MAJOR steps have been taken towards helping promote SA products for SA consumers, based on major feedback from the inaugural SA Dairy Summit in late 2019.
For the past 12 months, the Dairy Industry Association of Australia - SA branch has been working to develop a logo and marketing campaign that will allow consumers to easily identify SA products on retail shelves.
DIAA-SA committee member and dairyfarmer Mandy Pacitti said there was a willingness from consumers to support local products, as was seen during the 2016 dairy crisis and even more recently during COVID-19.
She said it was important to keep the message and momentum of supporting local going.
Building on the initial success of the 'Do Dairy' campaign of 2016, which had received a small amount of state government funding, she said the planned 'Dairy Good' campaign could "take it to the next level".
DIAA-SA president Peter Adamo said many of the messages about the health and even community benefits of the dairy industry had been lost, which was part of the reason behind the 'Dairy Good' campaign choice.
"It's one common logo that represents supporting local dairy communities in SA, instead of remembering lots of different labels," he said.
He said they were hoping to have signs on the sides of buses as well as social media campaigns, which would share stories of all aspects of the industry, including dairyfarmers and processors, but also periphery jobs such as those driving the milk tankers, to emphasise the local jobs created by buying local.
Mr Adamo said the next step would involve confirming how much the campaign would cost and then seeking funds from a range of sources, including government and industry.
He was hopeful they would be able to officially launch the campaign at the SA Dairy Awards midway through the year.