Forget surviving – Australia’s oldest dairy co-operative is thriving as it celebrates 125 years delivering for its customers, farmers, people and communities.
Norco, which was founded in Clunes in the foothills of Byron Bay in June 1895, has marked the incredible milestone with a record opening milk price for its 325 active members who operate 214 dairy farms across New South Wales and Queensland.
The 100 per cent farmer-owned dairy co-operative is also coming off a financial year when its turnover reached more than $600 million and annual milk production hit 195 million litres.
And while great results bring a smile to the Norco team, for Norco Chief Executive Officer Michael Hampson, it is how the co-operative has supported farmer members through recent hardships that he believes would resonate most with Norco’s forefathers.
“I’m incredibly proud of the significant amount of support we’ve provided to our farmers to help them survive what has been the most difficult set of circumstances in farming anyone has seen,” said Mr Hampson, who was appointed CEO in October 2019 after joining Norco as Chief Operating Officer six months earlier.
“We had the drought, which rolled into fires, which rolled into floods and we’re now going back into another dry spell and dealing with the impact of COVID-19.
“Along with providing our members with two significant drought levy milk price increases during the past year, we are on track to deliver improved financial performance in addition to paying our farmers $17 million more than last year for their milk.
“Norco was born 125 years ago to provide our farmers, people and communities with the support they need to thrive and nothing has changed on that front.”
It was on 5 June, 1895 that the North Coast Fresh Food & Cold Storage Co-operative Company Ltd began operations in Byron Bay and within a handful of years was sending bacon to Sydney, processing cream into butter and opening depots and factories at Murwillumbah, Casino and Lismore.
By 1905 the humble operation was producing a fifth of NSW’s butter and by the mid-1930s it was operating 20 factories across NSW and Queensland.
The official name change to Norco Co-operative Limited came in 1932, bottled milk production began at Murwillumbah in 1950 and a new era began in 1962 when the head office transferred from Byron Bay to Lismore.
And despite the decades of partnerships, acquisitions and mergers that have followed and seen Norco become a major and respected player in the Australian dairy industry, one thing that has always remained the same is the co- operative’s commitment to its founding values.
“The co-operative has very much maintained those principles of delivering benefits for farmers,” said Mike Jeffery, who milks a herd of 300 cows on his property near Kempsey, NSW, and has been a Norco farmer member for almost 20 years.
“Farmers see Norco as being quite genuine because it is farmer-owned and the board are all dairy farmers. Farmer members’ interests are always taken into account, which provides us with a level of comfort and security.
“Rather than seeing profits end up overseas or in the hands of corporate entities, everything comes back to the farmer either through a dividend, strong milk price or our future viability.”
Mr Jeffery said public support for the co-operative was growing as consumers took an increasing interest in where their food came from.
“As a farmer I constantly cross paths with people who are really interested in understanding what the co-operative is, how it operates and how it benefits not just the farmers but their local communities,” said Mr Jeffery, who has sat on the Norco board for nine years.
“They like the fact Norco is owned by the farmers who produce the raw product. They not only get a great quality product but feel there is a purpose to their purchase because they know any profits are going to return to the farmers and our local communities.”
Amid all the reflection and celebration that come with celebrating a 125th birthday, Mr Hampson said the Norco board and executive were equally focused on the future of the co-operative.
“It’s important to recognise the achievements of the many people who have made wonderful contributions to deliver us to where we are today, but we are looking to make further investments, both in our current business and others that we want to pursue,” he said.
“We have a great brand that consumers really understand and our farmers and people continue to make the best dairy products available.
“I remember when I first visited Norco before starting with the co-operative and it was amazing to walk around the business and have person after person tell me ‘I’m just here for Norco and want the co-operative to do well’.
“When you have that sort of passion in a team you can do anything and that shows in how we’ve performed during our 125th year
“We run our co-operative as a business and believe that if our business is going well, our farmers, our people and the many communities in which we operate will share in the value we create, which is certainly the case at the moment.”
For more information, visit www.norco.com.au.
