First it stunned the dairy industry by becoming a shareholder in new "lab milk" start-up business, Eden Brew, now Norco is processing and selling its own plant-based "mylk".
The dairy farmer-owned co-operative's determination to cash in on an expanding population of non-dairy consumers saw it launching Oat Mylk and P2 Pea Protein Mylk lines in Woolworths supermarkets this week.
The new refrigerated plant-based beverages are processed at the company's Labrador milk factory on Queensland's Gold Coast, as will the emerging Eden Brew non-dairy brand when it is released next year.
"Up to 15 per cent of Australians won't or can't consume dairy milk," said Norco chief executive officer, Michael Hampson.
"About 40pc of consumers buy plant-based products in addition to regular milk purchases."
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Globally, the market for non-dairy milk products has been estimated to be worth around $2 trillion.
High profile animal-free milk protein company, Perfect Day, listed on the US stock market in 2021 valued at $US1.5 billion after developing fermentation technology to make imitation dairy products, including ice cream and whey powder, now produced in India and the US.
Cold brew launch
The first of Eden Brew's fermented fake milk protein lines is expected to be scaled up for a commercial launch as a new Norco ice cream by March next year, followed by the non-animal milk line later in 2024.
Once launched, Eden Brew milk will initially sell on a pricing par with plant-based beverages for about $4 a litre.
By 2028 production volume efficiencies and improved brewing expertise are likely to see processing costs fall enough for its milk lines to retail at the same price as branded cows' milk - equivalent to today's $1.50 to $2/litre in supermarkets.
Eden Brew's co-founder and CEO, Jim Fader, who brought together the CSIRO dairy protein fermentation technology, venture capital funding from Main Sequence and Norco's production capacity to form the company, is "very confident" the new milk would pass the blind taste and mouthfeel test.
Commercial scale batch runs are planned for later this year.
Just like real milk
Norco's Mr Hampson said while the production process was still being refined he had a bottle of Eden Brew in his fridge at home "and my wife says it tastes just like normal milk".
"I think its exceptionally good. The sensory experience is miles ahead of almond- and soy-based products," he said.
"This sort of thing was always going to be done, but we're being bold enough to step up and capture the market in Australia, including the export opportunities," Mr Hampson told last week's evokeAg conference in Adelaide.
"We'd rather not let it pass to others."
Norco's strategy was based on "doing things which support our dairy farmers' returns".
Eden Brew and the new plant-based mylks would generate extra volumes through Norco's bottling factory and extract value from consumers who were currently avoiding conventional dairy products.
Norco, which owns 25pc of Eden Brew, was initially blasted by many in the dairy sector, including many of its own farmer members, for entering an "unholy alliance" with its non-milk rivals.
However, Mr Hampson said the co-op board saw the business case for being a first mover in the non-animal milk protein sector.
It could service the fast increasing demand for milk substitutes at a time when Australia's real milk production was declining steadily, undermining dairy protein export opportunities and regional processing sector jobs.
The 127-year-old Norco is itself down to just 200 supplier farms in northern NSW and Queensland.
About 60pc of the northern state's milk needs are now trucked across the border from NSW and Victoria.
Global dairy trend
Mr Hampson said major global dairy businesses such as Nestle and Danone already had protein and plant-based divisions.
He dismissed suggestions brewed milk protein lines would undermine and replace real cows' milk, saying there would be no price incentive for milk buyers to switch, yet there would be fresh choices for those who did not drink milk to try this man-made alternative, which tasted just as good.
The extra 10m, 20m or 30m litres of volume to be eventually processed by Norco would also lift production efficiency and translate to maybe an extra five cents/l return to co-op members for their milk.
Most consumers would still want traditional milk and supported farmers producing animal products sustainably.
Importantly however, global demand for food would double in the next 30 years.
Mr Fader said emerging economies would switch from rice- and vegetable-based diets to more steaks, cheeses and lattes.
"Thirty years is no time at all, so we absolutely must find innovative ways to make a sustainable contribution to augmenting that supply," he said.
That new source could include using Eden Brew technology to produce powdered milk protein powder for for global ingredients markets for far less cost than drying down real milk.
"We can take these proteins and use them to supply other food processors who depend on dairy, and ensure they don't move to something else," he said.
Eden Brew's precision fermentation technology has pioneered the production of casein micelles to reproduce complex organic molecules, such as proteins.
The start-up business is about to have its application for commercial food production scrutinised by Food Standards Australia New Zealand - a process likely to take about 12 months.
In the meantime, Norco's alternative milk market moves are anchored on Australia's first pea-based refrigerated beverage, and an oat line.
Nutritionist and food educator, Georgia Barnes, said not only could Norco's P2 Mylk be consumed straight as a drink, or on cereal, in hot beverages, or frothed up in coffee, it scored highly for its nutritional value.
She tipped P2's taste would also create a new benchmark for alternative milks.
It boasted 8.3 grams of protein and 308mg of calcium in a serving, which was on par with Norco's full cream milk, but with 25pc less sugar.
"If you can't consume dairy, then an alternative milk with a robust nutritional profile and essential amino acids like peas do is probably the best option at the moment."
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Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
