Farmers Union (brand)

Farmers Union is a brand name established by the South Australian Farmers' Co-operative Union Ltd (SAFU), and now owned by the Chinese company Mengniu Dairy.

Origins

Jamestown

At a meeting in Jamestown, South Australia on 28 February 1888, a committee formed to establish a grain "producers' union to combat the effects of depressed agricultural prices and the power of dealers". In October, John Pearce,[1] Thomas Mitchell,[2] Alex McCallum and others floated the "South Australian Farmers' (later Co-operative) Union Ltd" with a paid-up capital of under £300, ninety-four shareholders, John Pearce as managing director, Thomas Mitchell and Alex McCallum directors, and George Lake[3] as secretary.

Pearce was elected chairman, and remained a director until 1902. His eldest son Edward James Pearce later became a director. Mitchell succeeded Pearce as chairman. Lake later became manager, and continued as secretary-manager until 1895.

In 1893 the union declared its first profit.

Adelaide

In 1895 the head office was transferred to Adelaide. A merchandise store was established at Port Adelaide, and business was diversified to include dealing in wheat-sacks, machinery and superphosphate. Mitchell died in 1908 after 20 years of leadership; his son Robert[4] later became a director.[2]

Dairy industry

Yorke Peninsula

Dairying was for many years a thriving business with the South Australian Farmers' Union opening a factory in Stansbury in 1923. At its peak it produced 2,400 pounds of butter a week. Increasing wool prices saw cows being replaced by sheep: less labour-intensive sheep were providing a better return for farmers. The butter factory closed in 1951.[5]

Murray lands

Irrigation settlements were established along the lower Murray River in the early 1900s, and a dairy industry developed. In 1922 the South Australian Farmers Union opened a factory in Murray Bridge. From 1919 to the mid-1940s the milk and cream was collected by small, fast and powerful boats; the South Australian Farmers Union operated a fleet which included the Loyalty, the Union, the Co-operation and the Progress.[6]

Competitors

Its main competitor in Adelaide was AMSCOL – the Adelaide Milk Supply Co-operative Limited. The company was taken over by the South Australian Farmers Union and Dairy Vale in 1978.[7][8]

Fate

Farmers Union became part of the Adelaide Steamship Group, and was included in the public float of National Foods in 1991, which was subsequently acquired by Lion Nathan, which was subsequently acquired by Japan’s Kirin in 2007.[9] In November 2019 China’s Mengniu Dairy purchased Lion Dairy from Kirin.[10]

The brand continues as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mengniu Dairy, and is famous for Farmers Union Iced Coffee.

References
  1. Nancy Robinson Whittle, 'Pearce, John (1840–1910)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, p. 183.
  2. Eric Richards, Joan Hancock, 'Mitchell, Thomas (1844? – 1908)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 534-535.
  3. Nancy Robinson Whittle, 'Lake, George Hingston (1847–1900)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 646-647.
  4. J. H. Love, 'Mitchell, Robert (1851–1929)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, p. 533.
  5. Stansbury, www.samemory.sa.gov.au
  6. Tailem Bend and Jervois were primary dairy production areas, www.murrayriver.com.au
  7. Outstanding dairy service recognised Farm on Line 17 August 2010
  8. Dairy Vale (The Dairy Vale Co-operative Ltd) was acquired by Dairy Farmers (the then NSW-based Dairy Farmers Cooperative Milk Company Ltd) in 1993, which was acquired by National Foods in 2008, etc. - refer Our History - 1990s, www.dairyfarmers.com.au
  9. Nat Foods now simply Lion Farm on Line 17 May 2011
  10. "Mengniu buys Lion Dairy and Drinks". dairyreporter.com. Retrieved 3 January 2020.

Further reading
  • G. M. Messner, The Formation and Early History of the S.A. Farmers Co-operative Union Ltd (B.A. Hons thesis, University of Adelaide, 1964)
  • History, Farmers Union Iced Coffee website
    • (Farmers Union Iced Coffee) was first launched commercially in 1977, but was originally discovered years before by a bunch of blokes at the Farmers Union Cooperative dairy, who were creating a special recipe for the Royal Adelaide Show.
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