Global expansion strategy leads to Asia success

It's an impressive story of business expansion: Australian Consolidated Milk (ACM) started out with one dairy farm in Victoria and is now exporting to Asia.

Direct delivery to customers at home and overseas

In just over 10 years, Australian Consolidated Milk, opens in new window (ACM) has grown from a single dairy farm in Kyabram, Northern Victoria, into an international operation.

"We now operate by collecting milk from trusted suppliers and delivering dairy ingredients directly to end-user customers in the domestic and export markets," says managing director Michael Auld. “Our main export markets are China and south-east Asia."

A focus on growth 

From the outset, ACM's goal was to grow a sustainable business.

"The year after purchasing our first farm we launched a milk management company to acquire milk from other dairy farmers," Auld says. "We now have more than 100 farmers supplying over 250 million litres a year."

At the same time, ACM was purchasing other farms in the area.

“We acquired these with a view to becoming self-sufficient,” Auld says. “We were also able to lease these farms to people wanting to get a start in the industry. Our aim is for young dairy farmers to build equity and eventually own the farm.”

ACM is also committed to supporting the dairy industry.

“We're concerned that commodity market volatility damages the confidence of dairy farmers and dairy customers,” Auld says. “Our aim is to operate a direct-to-market model in the premium value-added space rather than being a commodity player. We believe this will improve confidence by providing more stability."

This involves identifying high-value niche market opportunities, targeting supply chain efficiencies and keeping  overheads low." Our strategy keeps us in a good position to support our existing suppliers and attract new ones," Auld says.

Starting a business abroad

A key ingredient of ACM’s success is choosing the right partners. As part of their international business expansion strategy they identified local experts with enough capital to support and promote the brands in market. They also embarked on trade missions with the Victorian Government and visited potential customers many times.

"Our investment in a joint venture with a UHT plant meant we were well placed to participate in Asian markets," Auld says. "We now have a state-of-the-art, fully-accredited UHT production facility in Shepparton, Victoria, which utilises the latest cutting-edge technology to produce a wide range of nutritious, quality dairy products in a range of formats. Our quality management system ensures that our products are compliant with the most stringent international regulatory requirements.”