King Island Dairy to shut, ending iconic Australian cheese brand

by Admin
September 5, 2024

Dairy giant Saputo will shut its iconic King Island Dairy in the middle of next year and discontinue its more than 120-year-old brand, after being unable to find a buyer.

Saputo Dairy Australia president Leanne Cutts said the decision to shut the dairy had “not been taken lightly”, and only after a 10-month “intensive review of all commercial and financial alternatives” for the brand, including selling it to a third party.

“After thoroughly reviewing every possible option, closure of the facility was determined as the most viable way to strengthen SDA’s competitiveness based on changing industry and market conditions,” she said.

Saputo bought King Island Dairy in 2019 but says it has now made the “difficult decision” to close the facility and end the brand. (ABC News: Jeremy Story Carter)

Ms Cutts said while Saputo’s two other cheese brands were thriving, and the King Island Dairy brand held a “nostalgic place in the hearts of Australians”, it had “not maintained its position in today’s ultra-competitive food industry”.

Saputo said 58 employees were impacted by the closure, but it would try to redeploy workers where possible.

Mayor hoping for investor to ‘swoop in’

King Island Mayor Marcus Blackie said the news was “sad and concerning”, and his heart went out the company’s 58 employees.

“However, the second-last chapter of the book isn’t the end; there is the potential for someone out there who has admired King Island Dairy from afar to possibly come in and rescue the brand yet,” he said.

“So I pray and hope that might happen but either way we will get through this together on King Island.”

Councillor Blackie said domestic and international cheesemakers had long admired the King Island Dairy brand, and hoped they’d snap up the business.

“Now is their chance to swoop in and rescue a legendary brand that doesn’t deserve to be retired, so I encourage them to move now quickly before it’s too late,” he said.

‘It’s really going to knock the island around’

A platter board for four different types of cheeses surrounded by fruit. — Saputo says there will be one more operating season for the dairy before it shuts in mid-2025. (Facebook: King Island Dairy)

Retired dairy farmer Gary Strickland, whose family supplied the King Island dairy for more than 100 years, said he wasn’t surprised by the news the brand would be retired, but hoped Saputo would find a buyer.

“As far as the island’s concerned, it’s absolutely ghastly because they’re the biggest employer on the island,” he said.

“It’s really going to knock the island around very hard if they don’t find a buyer for the site out there.”

Cheese on a wooden board in the sunlight. — The island’s mayor hopes the business will be bought out and the enterprise can continue. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)

Mr Strickland said the closure was a “disaster” for the Island’s dairy farmers, who now have less than 12 months to prepare.

“You’ve got no time to plan for anything and they’re not really big farms, so even if they converted to beef, they’d struggle even with reasonable beef prices,” he said.

“It’s a four or five-year program minimum to get out of dairy … I feel sorry for them; they’re going to find it really tough.

“It’s a real shame over here to not have a dairy industry, it’s one of the best climates for dairy in the world, you’ve got a freight cost to get things off, but because the climate’s so good it’s the cheapest place nearly in the world to milk cows on.”

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said Saputo’s decision was “very disappointing”.

“We are providing immediate support to the company’s workers, farmers, and the wider island community,” he said in a statement.

“We are also working with the company in an effort to find a new operator for this iconic dairy.”

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