Murray Goulburn Co-operative

Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited

Type	Agricultural cooperative
Founded	1950 (1950)
Headquarters	Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Industry	Manufacturing Retail
Products	Milk Butter Cheese
Revenue	+ A$ 2.17 billion (2008)
Employees	3,000 approx
Website	mgc.com.au

Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited (MGC) is an agricultural cooperative formed in 1950 from 14 dairy farms that has grown to become the largest processor of milk in Australia and the nation’s largest exporter of processed food.

Profile

With nine manufacturing plants located throughout Victoria and Tasmania, Murray Goulburn processes over 35% of the nation’s milk supply (3.3 billion litres) into products which are sold on both domestic and export markets. MGC's International business accounts for approximately 9% of world dairy trade and they trade in over 100 countries.

Further statistics can be found on the Dairy Australia site - [1]

It has over 3000 suppliers (mainly milk farmers) who are also the shareholders of the company. MGC also supports 2300 employees with an annual turnover of A$ 2.17 billion.

Murray Goulburn is the largest container user in the Port of Melbourne exporting in excess of 375,000 MT or 23,500 containers in a financial year.

All Murray Goulburn's processing plants are accredited to ISO 9001:2000 manufacturing facilities and are certified to the NSF HACCP – 9000 standard for HACCP and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). Compliance with finished products specifications is independently verified using Dairy Technical Services, the Australian Dairy Industry Reference Laboratory located in Melbourne.

Murray Goulburn made a bid to takeover Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings in early 2010.^[1]

Business Units and Brands

MG Food Ingredients (Supplier of whey, milk powder, concentrate, casein)

Devondale (Consumer Brand of Milk and Cheese)

Corporate Brands Division (Supplier to Consumer Brands)

MG Nutritionals (Research Division)

Ascend - Proven Sports Proteins (Consumer brand for scientifically proven proteins)

Liddells - Lactose Free Dairy Products

MG China

Murray Goulburn Farm and Hardware Supplies

Environmental Projects

Water

Project: Cobram water re-use scheme. A 37 km pipeline designed to pipe 1000ML of wastewater to dairyfarms. Impact: One of the largest private water re-use schemes in Victoria,it has delivered 2000ML of treated wastewater to dairy farms since October 2004, taking significant pressure off local water supplies in the region and replacing some fertilizer use by farmers. Investment: $7,000,00

Waste

Project: Leitchville packaging reduction Transportation of cheese on re-usable trays rather than in full boxes. Impact: The Leitchville site saved 94 tonnes of packaging cardboard over 2004/05 & another 78 tonnes over 2005/06.The final aim is to totally eliminate cardboard by using stainless steel trays. Investment: $75,000

Project: Cartonless cheese block manufacture Ageing cheese without pre-packaging it in cardboard boxes. Impact: Estimated to save an additional 36 tonnes of packaging cardboard over 2006/07. When fully implemented,will save an additional 238 tonnes per year. Investment: $4,500,000

Energy

Project 1: Rochester Energy Best-Practice program Auditing of production process equipment and operation for the identification and implementation of improvements yielding improved energyefficiency. Impact: Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 1500 tonnes pa.

Project 2: Conversion of truck fleet from Diesel to LNG 54 trucks have already been converted to dual fuel (diesel/liquid natural gas) at a cost of $2,700,000. Impact: As all 150 trucks are converted this will provide an annual greenhouse gas emission reduction of 1700 tonnes CO₂.(equivalent to taking 143 cars off the road). Investment: $7,500,000

References

1. ^ Murray Goulburn wants Warrnambool Cheese. The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 Jan. 2010.

External links

• Official website