South Australians urged to 'Do Dairy' to support local industry

SADA president Robert Brokenshire, Hindmarsh Tiers dairy farmer Mandy Pacitti and Golden North managing director Peter Adamo at the relaunch of the Do Dairy campaign.

The South Australian dairy industry has relaunched its 'Do Dairy' campaign as it encourages consumers to buy local and support the sector.

A previous iteration of the campaign was run in 2016 to support the industry and with the recent closure of Beston factories, SA Dairyfarmers' Association president Robert Brokenshire said it was the perfect time to reboot the campaign.

Positively, all milk supplied to Beston has found a new home but some farmers are still out of pocket to the tune of six figures.

SADA has revamped the Do Dairy website, which showcases more than 20 local dairy brands and the best places for consumers to purchase local milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter products.

Mr Brokenshire said people within the dairy sector, from farmers to transporters to processors to retailers, wanted to show consumers that recent negative publicity from the Beston closure was not a true picture of the industry.

"It's (the Beston closure) a setback but the industry and the demand for dairy are both growing," he said.

"We've had a lot of enquiries from the public about how they best support SA dairy and the answer was to review and upgrade DoDairy.com.au, with updates regularly throughout next year to support consumers who want to buy SA dairy products.

"You can get all the product you need in SA and we are keen to ensure people are buying SA and Australian dairy, not products that have been dumped from overseas."

In SA, there are 175 dairy farms producing 500 million litres of milk each year. The industry brings $1 billion of annual value to the SA economy.

The SA Dairy Action Plan has outlined growth goals of reaching 700m litres of milk production.

Industry figures believe the demand is there to reach that target.

Golden North managing director Peter Adamo says there is great opportunity to grow the SA milk pool to satisfy both domestic and international demand.

Golden North sources milk from La Casa Del Formaggio farmers and cream from a variety of SA processors, with Mr Adamo on hand to support the campaign relaunch.

"We need to ensure both dairy farmers and processors are sustainable for the long term and we need all consumers to get on board and support the dairy industry," he said.

"SA dairy farmers produce the best quality milk and processors produce the best quality product so it's a win-win for all.

"It's up to consumers to support the local dairy industry and support local businesses when they're doing their shopping."

A key aspect of the campaign is also promoting the health benefits of dairy consumption, which has won a key backer of late in the Australian Dental Association.

The Association recommends people drink water and plain milk instead of soft drinks, juice or cordial to maintain teeth health, with milk less erosive than even water.

It also says eating hard cheese helps stimulate salivary flow to reduce acid levels in the mouth after meals.

Farmers to benefit from Do Dairy relaunch

Hindmarsh Tiers dairy farmer Mandy Pacitti, Misty Brae Holsteins, fondly remembers the first Do Dairy campaign and its benefits for people right along the supply chain.

She said it had created awareness of both the farm and processing sectors that make up the local industry.

"The public got right behind it and within weeks we saw the branded products on supermarket shelves sold out every night, while there were still home brand products left," Mrs Pacitti said.

"It built a sustainable industry here again in SA. We think it's timely with Beston closing, that it's the perfect time to reboot the campaign and get the public behind the SA dairy industry.

"We want people to buy South Australian brands over other brands and not just today, tomorrow and next week, but for them to make that a permanent change moving forward."