Last week Bulla Dairy became the first processor to release its 2021-22 milk price of $6.40/kg MS to $6.90/kg MS.
Bulla Dairy Foods chief executive Allan Hood said the business owed it to farmers to release the price as soon as it could.
“We made a commitment to our suppliers a couple of years ago to release the price as early as possible, which has always been around early May and April,” Mr Hood said.
“We are a family business and our farmers are too. An early price gives them the ability to plan ahead.”
The 2021-22 price includes an added price band for milk suppliers above 49 per cent milk supply ration (MSR).
In 2020 Bulla reached an all-time high, achieving record cream sales and becoming the number-one-selling ice-cream brand in all states.
Mr Hood said the momentum from a good 2020 gave the business the confidence to open as early as it had.
“We are different to companies such as Saputo and the like, we are still a private business and so have no shareholders to answer to, which is why we can do things like this,” he said.
Bulla's factories are located in Colac and a majority of suppliers are based in South-West Victoria, but about 25 per cent of Bulla's farms are in northern Victoria.
“We've got farms from one million litres to five million litres and a variety of herd types; the primary drivers for us is quality,” Mr Hood said.
Bulla farms can be found in the Shepparton, Echuca and Nathalia areas where milk is taken to nearby manufacturers to be creamed.
“We work with local factories to cream our milk, before it comes down to Colac,” Mr Hood said.
“It's more cost-effective to transport cream.”
Bulla Dairy has sourced milk directly from farmers since 2018 and aims to "grow modestly" in coming years.
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