A2 milk which takes Australian consumers by storm is years from Irish shelves

A dairy company in Australia, which introduced a new type of milk in 2000 says the milk now accounts for 10% of all fresh milk sales in Australia.
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A dairy company in Australia, which introduced a new type of milk in 2000 says the milk now accounts for 10% of all fresh milk sales in Australia.
A2 milk claims to have health benefits, due to its unique protein structure, but it won’t be stocked in Irish fridges for a couple of years, according to A2 Milk’s Michael Payne.
“The product will be available in Southern Ireland in the coming years, but it all depends on how we get the product over there.
“When we are going to supply the Republic of Ireland it wouldn’t be direct, but it would be through producers in Ireland,” he said.
Payne said that the company has put a lot of though into entering the Irish market and it wants to avoid the mistakes made by UK processors, who previously failed to make the move from the UK to Ireland.
However, despite the success of the milk in the Australian market, Payne said says in the UK have been quite tough since the product was first introduced on the market in 2013.
A2 milk sells for a premium price of 39p/L (50c/L) over Tesco’s own brand skimmed milk in the UK.
“It is a hard slog, it is not an easy concept to sell.
“Selling the product is quite a significant challenge to the business and various companies make various claims.
“Some customers see the product with scepticism, but the scientific evidence is there to back up our claims,” he said.
He also said that the success of the product will depend on finding the correct marketing message.
“We need to explain to customers that we do not modify the milk in any and the cows are treated to a very high standard.”
A2 milk in the UK
The majority of A2 milk supplied in the UK comes from farms in Shropshire, Cheshire and North Wales and the farmers involved in the production have to pass a rigorous process become an certified A2 farm.
One farmer involved in the production of A2 milk in the UK is Ernie Durose, who milks a herd of Guernsey cattle on a 160ac grassland farm.
Durose genetically tested his herd in early 2012 to see if the protein produced was A1 or A2. As a result of the test Ernie found that more than 80% of his herd were A2 positive.
This meant that it was reasonably easy to make the transition to a pure A2 Guernsey herd.
He first began to produce pure A2 Milk in October 2012, and says he finds the A2 Milk venture in the UK very exciting.
Health benefit claims of A2 milk
A2 milk claims to have health benefits, due to its unique protein structure, which can reduce some of the digestive problems associated with regular milk.
The company also produces a wide range of products, which include infant formula, milk powders and ice cream, which are said to be digested easier due to their protein make up.
It says there are many types of protein that occur naturally in milk. But, beta-casein accounts for about 33% of total milk protein content.
Source: Agriland
 

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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