Tilba Dairy’s Jersey cows. Photos: Supplied.
Tilba Dairy has secured a $1.1 million grant to increase production capacity and improve efficiencies so its premium products can be enjoyed by its growing consumer base at competitive prices.
Owner-operator Erica Dibden said increasing the dairy’s production capacity meant it could buy more milk from local farmers, keeping that money local. With its products now reaching consumers in Canberra, Sydney and the Illawarra, Tilba Dairy’s “economic garden” is bringing more money back into the local economy, particularly if it sources as much as possible locally, while creating jobs.
The Tilba area has been renowned for its dairy products for more than a century. The dairy producers who remain have had to constantly change with the times. Throughout, Tilba Dairy has stayed true to its vision of producing quality food that is sustainable.
The $1.1 million funding through the NSW Government’s Agriculture Industries Innovation and Growth Program will enable it to continue to do that for years to come.
While Tilba Dairy has a high-speed, high-temperature continuous-flow pasteuriser that can process 15,000 litres of milk and milk for cheese production daily, it has only a small-batch pasteuriser for its cream and haloumi.
“We have to get the cream out by 11:30 am so we can get the haloumi in without everyone having to stay back late,” Ms Dibden said. “We need a bigger cream vat and a bigger haloumi vat.”
Tilba Dairy’s factory in Central Tilba.
Tilba Dairy produces up to 1000 tubs of cream at a time. Amazingly, once processed, the pouring into containers, putting on lids, labelling and dating tubs is all done by hand. Some of the grant will be spent on installing a cream and yoghurt filler similar to the filler it uses for milk.
Tilba Dairy’s factory is an old, inherited structure. It needs better maturing rooms for white mould cheeses such as brie and camembert.
Specialised ice-cream manufacturing is in Ms Dibden’s sights, but that is further down the track.
“We would love to do a Tilba Dairy ice-cream,” she said. “Our Jersey milk would be lovely for ice-cream.”
Despite cost-of-living pressures, demand for Tilba Dairy’s products continues to grow.
“That is testament to the product and testament to the consumers who support their local producers with low food miles,” Ms Dibden said.
She said if people did not support small food systems such as Tilba Dairy, there would be only big food systems; namely, completely automated factories where the product does not touch human hands and which are transported nationally. That would result in less competition, with consumers paying more for lower-quality products.
Tilba Dairy’s Trilogy cheese.
Tilba Dairy’s products are the result of fertile soil, beautiful Jersey cows, the plant and equipment associated with a dairy farm, and paying other local farmers a fair price for their milk.
“It is a very big investment and then there’s all the infrastructure at the shop, so it is absolutely expensive and that is reflected in our food costs,” Ms Dibden said.
To keep growing with the right balance of being an artisanal producer and commercially competitive, Tilba Dairy partners with other niche companies that have similar values of high-quality food that is sustainably produced.
“You can’t pay distributors 25 per cent and retailers want 40 per cent, but for us to grow we need retailers and distributors, so you have a synergy of things coming together,” Ms Dibden said.
Succession is a major issue for South Coast dairy farmers. It is a demanding job, making it a young person’s game, yet how many would have the millions of dollars to buy their own farm without family support. The Dibdens’ family farm has ceased operating but will continue to support local farmers by buying its milk from them to produce quality products it is proud to label Tilba Dairy.
“We hope to do some wonderful things and anchor Tilba’s future and viability for the years to come,” Ms Dibden said. “Purpose is part of what we do. Food production is feeding people. It has great purpose.”
