By Kerrie Lush
Just over a year ago, the former Murray Bridge United Dairy Power cheese factory at Murray Bridge was in receivership, with the jobs of its 35 staff uncertain.
But with new owners and a new brand, the factory is now producing award-winning cheeses.
The publicly listed, Adelaide-based Beston Global Food Company, bought the business and its milk processing factories at Murray Bridge and Jervois in late July last year.
“When we bought the factory there was not much there – no customers, no contracts, no people, no gas, no lights,” says chief executive, Sean Ebert.
“We made a commitment to our investors and shareholders – and to the community – that we would get the plant back into operation by September 1 – that gave us about five weeks.
“We brought a very good team in and they did a fantastic job getting all the staff back, getting the whole thing refurbished and back up and running and into full production.
“It was good and it’s great for the people because the factory was closed down in April.
Beston Pure Foods operations manager Paul Connolly, general manager Daniel Raschella, Beston Global Food Company chief executive officer Sean Ebert, and chairman Roger Sexton, hold the first 20-kilogram block of cheese produced at the Murray Bridge processing plant (Photo: The Murray Valley Standard)
Sean says some of the biggest challenges in the redevelopment was reinstating all the appropriate licenses including AQIS and EU exports and FTA approvals.
About 25 million litres of the 70 to 80 million litres used at Beston Global Food Company’s two processing facilities at Murray Bridge and Jervois is sourced from the company’s own dairies. It milks about 2,100 cows at its five farms near Mount Gambier. Other South Australian producers help make up the shortfall.
The Beston Pure Foods cheeses, sold under the Edwards Crossing brand, are now available at up to 30 Foodland stores in SA. Another 20 are expected to come online soon.
Just recently the company released 2,500 blocks of its limited edition Tribute cheese, a black wax cheddar which was made to support local dairy farmers in response to the recent crisis facing the industry.
The entire release sold out at Romeo’s Foodland stores in one day.
Some of the proceeds from this release will be used to create a ‘cheese bank’ where farmers excess milk will be turned into cheddar cheese and aged for up to three years.
Beston Global Food Company has also launched a range of five flavoured cheeses to cater for Asian markets in Japan, Thailand and Singapore – traditionally not large dairy consuming countries.
A little different to traditional western tastes, the flavours include strawberry, chocolate almond, nacho chilli, milky cheddar and orange yoghurt.
Just recently the company released 2,500 blocks of its limited edition Tribute cheese to support local dairy farmers
All the hard work over the past year paid off earlier this month when the company had great success at the South Australian Dairy Industry Awards, receiving two gold medals, three silver and the overall Champion Cheddar title.
“We’re just really proud of our people that’s why we encouraged them to enter the cheese,” Sean says.
“I think it was good for the people that worked there because people like Lewis D’Angelo, he’s been working in the factory for 40 years and had never been to an award ceremony, never been recognised and he was invited to the dinner – he’s now the poster boy.
“He’s very shy guy, but he did such a fantastic job producing that whole range of cheeses and he finally got recognised for it so we were actually pretty proud of him.”
Earlier this year the company received a $2.5 million shot in the arm from the State Government through its Regional Development Fund to further expand the company’s facilities at Murray Bridge and Jervois.
Sean says this funding is being used to build a mozzarella plant, a hard cheese and a soft cheese plant and the relocation and upgrade of a cream cheese plant from Victoria.
This should increase staff numbers from the current 50 at Murray Bridge and Jervois to about 100.
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