Dairy Manufacturing

As in the farm sector, the milk processing sector is undergoing, continued rationalisation. This has resulted in increasing milk production per factory, as lager operations have allowed efficiency and economics of scale.

Co-operatives dominate the industry, accounting for more than 70% of all milk output. The three largest co-operatives – Murray Goulburn Co-Operative Limited, Bonlac Supply Company and the Dairy Farmers Group account for more than 60% of all milk used for manufacturing. While the largest co-operative has a volume that accounts for more than 30% of Australia 's milk production, there are a number of medium-sized co-operatives with milk production between 10 and 600 million litres.

As well as farmer's co-operatives, there are a number of multinational dairy companies operating within the Australian dairy industry 0- including Fonterra, Parmalat, Nestle, Kraft and Snow Brand?

Other Australian Dairy companies cover a diverse range of markets and products – from the publicly listed National Foods Limited, which is heavily involved in the drinking milk and fresh dairy product markets, to many high specialised farmhouse cheese manufactures.

The four major production streams are:

•  Butter/skim milk powder
•  Casein / butter
•  Cheese / whey products
•  Wholemeal powder