Sydneysiders experience how milk was delivered 100 years ago with the Dairy Farmers milk cart

Yesterday Annandale and Glebe residents were surprised to see the iconic sight of an age gone by, The Dairy Farmers Milk Cart. Local cafes were treated to a milkman hand delivering their Dairy Farmers milk from the horse and cart.

The Dairy Farmers brand wanted people to take the time to celebrate their fathers on Father’s Day and also take a minute to think about all the fathers in the supply chain, who help bring Dairy Farmers milk to Aussie consumers every day.

This celebration comes as Dairy Farmers launches its new advertising campaign, which is designed to remind Australians why milk matters.

Martin Hodge, a dairy farmer from Camden Park Estate, which has more than 250 cows in the herd, producing around 2.3 million litres of milk each year and has been supplying milk to the Dairy Farmers brand for more than 100 years, said it is important for Aussies to be reminded of where milk comes from and the journey it goes on to get to our dining room tables.

Says Hodge: “Father’s Day is the perfect occasion to remember the people, including my own father, who worked extremely hard to supply fresh milk every day to Australians. Dairy farming is an industry I’m very proud to be a part of and it’s important we take the time to educate our children, including my own sons, on the importance of dairy farming and why milk matters so we can continue this tradition for the next 100 years.”

Martin and his wife Suzi and 13 year old son, Tom, came up to the city to join Sydneysiders to watch the milk delivery tour while they were out and about enjoying Father’s Day.

Says Hodge: “Bringing this to life with the Dairy Farmers Milk Cart is a great way to remind people that our nation’s milk industry is steeped in history and includes many different people.”

In 2014, Australia produced over 9.24 billions of milk1, however long before the days of milk in plastic bottles in supermarkets, during the 19th and 20th century, milk was delivered to the local dairies in the early morning directly from the farmer.

“Dairy Farmers is the leading branded milk in NSW and has been loved by generations since 1900,” said Mark Golley the manufacturing site leader at Penrith where the farmers “raw milk is transformed into safe, delicious and nutritious high quality products for Australian families to enjoy and rely on every day.

Today, the Dairy Farmers Milk Cart was driven by Graham Ware who back in the 1960’s used to deliver milk to the close by suburbs of Leichardt.

Says Ware: “I was excited to harness up Jasper and show the younger folks milk doesn’t just come from a supermarket. I haven’t delivered milk for over 40 years so it was nice to get back to it.”

Jay Miles a current Dairy Farmers milkman joined Ware to help deliver milk to locals.

Says Miles: “The way milk is delivered today is very different from days gone by, my day starts at 2:30am where I collect the milk from the cool room at the depot and then start my route in the Southern Highlands. I then deliver it straight to the local store, café or supermarket.”

The Dairy Farmers Milk Cart travelled down the pavement visiting three cafés who use Dairy Farmers milk daily to create coffee, smoothies, lunches and much more. The cafes involved in the tour got behind the celebrations by offering customers one-off special milk beverage creations and people out for Sunday brunch had the opportunity to get plenty of photos with the

Milk Cart and enjoy seeing how our milk was once delivered in days gone by.

Says Gus Malfroy from Black Toast Café in Annandale: “It is great to see the horse and cart trot down the street and remind our community and consumers on the importance of milk. These days, people don’t understand the effort that goes into a litre of milk. This is a key ingredient we rely on everyday to create the perfect coffee for our customers. So on Father’s day, it’s nice to transport our customers back in time and show them how much milk matters to us. To celebrate, we’ve created an old-fashioned malted maple syrup milkshake and the locals are loving it.”