When John Cochrane and his family took over the Kenilworth Dairies factory in 2017, their vision was to provide customers with quality local dairy products.
For the past three years, John and his team have been shoring up supply and distribution of its cheeses, dessert mousses and yoghurts. Now, Kenilworth Dairies is the latest entrant to the fresh white milk market in Queensland.
Available locally in Kenilworth from last Friday, Kenilworth milk will be available in one, two and three litre bottles and John hopes to have contracts for greater distribution through independent retailers like IGA and Drakes by the start of September.
John has spent the past three years getting the factory back up to full production and fully Safe Food compliant for the expanded range. With this round of improvements, the factory is being made ready for export compliance so if there comes a demand for Queensland made quality products in overseas markets, Kenilworth will be ready.
Currently, Kenilworth Dairies is supplied by the Cochranes' own dairy farms in the Mary Valley. The success of these new lines will mean they will be able to take on more local farms as suppliers and employ more local people at the factory and retail outlet.
John is also looking at restarting a handful of local dairy farms that have shut due to unsustainable farmgate milk pricing and cost of production, though he admits that finding replacement herds in the current climate where the cattle sales are making record prices will be tough.
Kenilworth Dairies product launch of its fresh white milk range is great news for the Queensland dairy industry. With the number of farms now operating in Queensland below 300, it is in everyone's best interest to support independent brands making a comeback.
While for now the Cochranes' focus must be on making the factory profitable and securing distribution for its expanding range, we look forward to hearing about more farms moving across to the Kenilworth Dairies brand.
