1. Brought to you by the Farming Together Program
Canberra 2018

2. Imagine having these resources?

3. Highly efficient farmers

4. An inspiring bunch!

5. Why develop Mountain Milk Co-op?
Concern about our short to medium term futures
Strong history of collaboration and working together as farmers
MGC demise, member treatment
The co-op structure – our first choice
Extract the true value of our milk and efforts
Creating a point of difference
Finding a route to market
Jumping the fence – are there opportunities?

6. Vision/Purpose To improve profitability
Increase price, stability of returns and milk pricing structure
Reduce costs of production
To Improve control, reduce risk, improve security, realise the true value of our milk
To increase our level of choice and influence in relation to the market
Increased ownership of our product
Market recognition of our unique value proposition
Increased control of where/how our product is sold
To reflect our values of cooperation/collaboration
Close connection to the community

7. What is member value? Profit = Income less expenses
Dairy industry now dominated by IOF’s
Provide a pure economic service – milk pricing and limited finance
Mountain Milk Co-op
Economic service needs to be strong – it must be competitive
But…
What about farming together, operating collaboratively, sharing, reducing costs, investing and working together
What other services can we implement to create value and care for our members?
Outreach service for farmer well being
Shared labour
Risk management strategies with major investments – fodder, rearing young stock
Reduced fixed costs - energy
The co-op advantage

8. Love what we do, care for our animals, our environment and our people.

9. The Mountain Milk Co-operative Ltd
will be respected as the primary source of premium Australian milk, produced from the beautiful Alpine Valley’s region of Victoria

10. Unique Competitive Advantage
From the Alpine Valleys of North East Victoria
Family owned and operated farms
More highly credentialed regarding sustainable farm practices
based on a free range system with grass fed cows
audited standards for animal health and welfare
best practice environmental management
care for our people and the community
Highest raw milk quality standards
Relatively low peak to trough ratio
Good match with current values and farm systems
True co-operative – By collaboration we can enjoy scale

11. Our values… We act with honesty, integrity and transparency
We support our members equally
We share the risks and the rewards of working together
We give back to our communities and our industry

12. A future for our children

13. What next… Build a foundation
Governance
Risk management
Board unity and strategy in a start-up business
Find a market suitable for our milk
What value can we extract
Surrounding ourselves with good people/services
Services for members (its more than just economic)
Growth versus scale
Manufacturing? Export? Local market?