Australian beverage manufacturer and distributor MADE has secured a deal to export fresh milk to Malaysia with the first shipment commencing in June.
The initial order volume is 200,000 litres per month worth more than $2 million per annum. Coinciding with the company’s 10th year of operation, MADE will be the first Australian company to transport fresh PET-bottled milk by ocean to Asia unlocking a lucrative market opportunity for local dairy farmers.
The Victorian-based company sources its milk from a selection of dairy farmers located in nearby Gippsland, Australia’s largest dairy producing region.
MADE is best known in Australia for its beverage portfolio that generates more than $120 million in retail sales annually, with brands including Cocobella, Rokeby Farms and Impressed Juices. The company has experienced 50 per cent year on year sales growth for the past three years.
Co-founder Luke Marget said the export deal to Malaysia was made possible by MADE’s recent $20 million investment in specialised processing technology at its Melbourne plant that extends the shelf life of fresh milk by up to 100 days.
“Other Australian companies exporting fresh milk to Asia rely on refrigerated air-freight to transport the milk quickly, however the cost prohibitive nature of air-freight coupled with the short shelf-life of milk has made the prize of exporting fresh milk hard to seize,” said Mr Marget.
“Our state of the art production facility is equipped with a range of processing technology that no other Australian manufacturer offers making our locally made products instantly more competitive overseas,” he said.
Earlier this year MADE hosted several international groups at its Melbourne facility with prominent retailers and distributors visiting from Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines and the Middle East.
“Consumers in Asia are accustomed to buying UHT long-life milk imported from countries like Australia that have safe and reliable quality standards but a growing number of affluent consumers
are now demanding the same high quality fresh milk Australians consume every day, which is why the interest in our fresh PET-bottled milk has exploded,” said Mr Marget.
In 2014, MADE launched a range of high protein drinks made with fresh cold filtered milk under its Rokeby Farms brand which is already generating $15 million in retail sales annually in Australia alone.
MADE plans to export Rokeby Farms products to Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the second half of 2016 and predicts 10 per cent of its company revenue in 2017 will be attributed to export sales with this figure rising to 20 per cent in 2018 including forecast sales of $20 million.
The company’s specialised processing technology also includes the largest cold pressed juice plant in Australia equipped with high-pressure processing – a ground-breaking technology that applies
pressure instead of regular heat pasteurization to extended the shelf life of fresh juice without adversely affecting taste or nutrition.
“The prospect for exporting Impressed Juices overseas is also looking very strong,” said Mr Marget.
“We can efficiently cold press up to 100 tonnes of fresh produce each week – which we source direct from local farmers – making quality, cold