Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited (WCB) is an Australian-based company manufacturing

dairy products Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

, majority-owned by Saputo Inc., a Canadian company, that manufactures a range of

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s under various brands. The business is based in

Allansford Allansford is a town in the Western District, Victoria, Western District of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It is in the City of Warrnambool Local government in Australia, local government area. The Hopkins River flows through the t ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and is the oldest dairy processor in Australia, having been established in 1888. It owns cheese brands

CHEER Cheering involves the uttering or making of sounds and may be used to encourage, excite to action, indicate approval or welcome. The word cheer originally meant face, countenance, or expression, and came through Old French into Middle English" ...

(formerly COON cheese) and Cracker Barrel.

History

Early history

The company was registered on 28 May 1888 and the construction of factory facilities followed. In fact, two co-operative companies opened cheese and butter factories in Victoria in 1888; the first to open, on 22 October, was the Cobden and District Cheese and Butter Factory Company Ltd, and then on 14 November the Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co. Ltd. opened their factory in Allansford. At the start, the main product was cream, which was taken to Melbourne by rail. Initially, Warrnambool Cheese & Butter sourced their milk from local farmers, and in 1889 all suppliers became shareholders.

Butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

production expanded during the 1890s, and by 1900, Victoria had 304 butter factories.

Kraft Walker takes over (1934)

In November 1934 Kraft Walker Cheese Co. leased the factory owned by Warrnambool Cheese & Butter and expanded operations. Kraft Walker began manufacturing "Red Coon" (later to be renamed COON) cheese, around July 1931.

Takeover of Lion Dairy & Drinks (2015)

In 2015, WCB paid for a part of

Lion Dairy & Drinks Bega Dairy & Drinks (also known as BDD or BDD Pty Ltd) is a subsidiary of Australian diversified food company the Bega Group, having been purchased from the Japanese company Kirin (who owns Lion in Australia) in November 2020. It was previou ...

' business, including the cheese brands Cracker Barrel and COON.

Current business

the company produces cheese, butter, cream and dairy ingredients, roughly half of which is sold overseas. Local brands include the Sungold milk,

Coon cheese Cheer (stylised as CHEER; formerly Coon,) is the Australian trademark of a cheddar cheese (known as "tasty" in Australia) produced by the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter company, which is majority-owned by Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc. T ...

, Cracker Barrel, Mil Lel, Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool Cheddar cheeses. It is also one of the two Australian producers making

nutraceutical Nutraceutical is a terminology evolved scientifically & also through marketing which is used to imply a pharmaceutical effect from plant extracts, compounds, food products which have efficacy and therapeutic influence on clinical outcomes and patien ...

products from milk extracts, including bone supplements and

baby formula Infant formula, also called baby formula, simply formula (American English), formula milk, baby milk, or infant milk (British English), is a processed food, manufactured food designed and marketing, marketed for feeding to babies and infants ...

. They also own and run the tourist attraction called ''Cheese World'', close to the factory, which includes a dairy farm museum and an opportunity to sample cheeses, as well as a shop and cafe.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.wcbf.com.au/ Dairy products companies of Australia Cheesemakers Australian cheeses Food and drink companies established in 1888 Warrnambool