MG invests $2.5m to meet dairy demand

Devondale-Murray Goulburn (MG) has announced it will invest $2.5 million in equipment at its Koroit plant to meet production requirements of a five-year agreement with Danone. The agreement will see Devondale-Murray Goulburn supply Danone with 50,000 tonnes of Growing Up Milk Powders (GUMPs) base over the five years.

The investment will enable the cooperative to meet Asia’s rapidly increasing demand for GUMPs, a dairy nutritional product for young children.

GUMPs is one of the fastest-growing dairy nutritional categories, increasing 10-20% each year. Devondale-MG began supplying GUMPs base to Danone in Malaysia in 2011 and Thailand in 2012.

“Over the past three years, Devondale-MG has experienced strong and sustainable increases in demand for its ingredients from Danone’s nutrition division, driven by rising Asian demand for GUMPs and nutritional powders,” said Gary Helou, Devondale-MG Managing Director.

“Partnering with Danone offers Devondale-MG a significant opportunity for growth in an important line of produce for our cooperative. We are increasingly focusing on producing higher value and specialty ingredients such as GUMPs, as they provide higher margins and reduce our exposure to the more volatile commodity products.”