january 1900 1900 01 15 founder dairy farmers co operative milk company illawarra new south wales australia headquarters docklands melbourne victoria australia area served australia products dairy owner kirin holdings co. ltd. parent ld & d milk pty ltd lion dairy & drinks website www.dairyfarmers.com.au dairy farmers pty ltd originally established in 1900 is a brand owned by lion dairy & drinks and is distributed mainly new south wales & queensland in australia . the core products sold under that dairy farmers brand are fresh milk in nsw and queensland only and uht long life milk australia wide as well as various other dairy snacks . it supplies products to local and international markets such as eastern europe the middle east and asia . kirin holdings company limited of japan via its subsidiary national foods acquired the company on 27 november 2008 . 1 2 kirin holdings renamed national foods as lion dairy & drinks in 2009 . contents 1 history 2 brands 3 company milestones 4 references 5 external links history edit on 15 january 1900 1900 01 15 the dairy farmers co operative milk co. limited was created by 65 stakeholders most being dairy farmers in the illawarra region of new south wales . the aim of the co operative was to market their milk and butter products effectively to city customers . 3 dairy farmers was 100 % australian owned by australian dairy farmers for 107 years and ultimately had 11 processing facilities . in 2005 dairy farmers had the third highest dairy sales in australia with norco co operative second and national foods under its brand pura first . citation needed in 2008 dairy farmers was acquired by kirin holdings australia pty ltd part of the kirin group of japan 4 and became a brand of national foods ending 108 years as a co operative company . after kirin holdings acquired the alcoholic beverage company lion nathan in 2009 national foods & lion nathan were merged to become lion nathan national foods . lion nathan national foods became lion and lion dairy & drinks in 2011 . dairy farmers head office was located in homebush bay sydney until 2008 . lion dairy & drinks has its head office is in melbourne but ld & d s parent lion has its corporate head office in sydney . brands edit dairy farmers brand is mainly used for fresh milk in nsw and queesland uht long life milk australia wide think & creamy yoghurt and desserts creams custard and buttermilk . dairy farmers produced the ski yoghurt range its main competitor being yoplait under licence from brand owner nestl but after the company was acquired by national foods kirin holdings in 2008 fonterra purchased the ski brand still under licence from nestl with the brand name changing to nestl ski in 2012 . in 2016 fonterra divested its yoghurt range which includes nestl ski and nestl soleil selling it to parmalat . as a company prior to 2009 dairy farmers marketed a number of brands a selection of milk yogurt cheese cream custard and flavoured milk varieties sold under the main brand . the company had 11 processing plants in australia including at wetherill park in sydney . company milestones edit 1900 company established the dairy farmers co operative milk co. limited 1935 established first bottling plant in sydney mid 1960s began producing cottage cheese and flavored yogurts 1977 invested in ultra high temperature uht production 1989 acquisitions and mergers saw the formation of australian co operative foods acf to be known as dairy farmers 1997 acquired the coon mil lel and fred walker cheese brands and the licence for the cracker barrel brand . merged with malanda dairy foods and integrated the dairy vale business 2005 restructured and refocused the company . separated the fmcg business from the milk supply co operative 2008 acquired by japanese owned food and beverage company kirin holdings . dairy farmers became a brand of national foods . 2009 national foods became lion nathan national foods after kirin co. ltd acquired 100 % of lion . 2011 lion nathan national foods separated into two new divisions lion and lion dairy & drinks ld & d milk pty ltd and ld & d foods pty ltd with head offices in sydney & melbourne respectively . references edit japanese firm readies bid for dairy farmers . australian broadcasting corporation . retrieved 2008 08 26 . national foods to acquire dairy farmers for 910 million press release . dairy farmers limited . 2008 08 25 . retrieved 2008 09 28 . our history . student pack . australian co operative foods limited . retrieved 2007 09 02 . facts at a glance . what we do . australian co operative foods limited . retrieved 2007 09 02 . external links edit dairy farmers this article about an australian corporation or company is a stub . you can help wikipedia by expanding it . v t e retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dairy farmers & oldid 734756130 categories agriculture companies of australiadairy products companies of australiakirin group1900 establishments in 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