Student Pack
History of Our Brands
Following is a brief overview of the history of some of our other famous brands.
Cracker Barrel was originally launched in the United States of America and was introduced into the Australian market in the 1960’s.
In 1997, Dairy Farmers acquired the Kraft Natural Cheese business and along with it, the COON, Fred Walker, Mil Lel brands and a licence for the Cracker Barrel brand.
Today, Cracker Barrel is a market leader in the Vintage/Extra Tasty Cheddar Cheese Segment.
COON was launched in 1931 by Fred Walker who used a newly patented cheese making process developed by Edward Coon – after whom the cheese is named.
Edward Coon had, in the 1920’s, experimented with the ageing process of cheese to produce a well matured cheese with no loss of taste. This was known as the Cooning process. The Cooning process produced a sharp, well matured cheese, which was a contrast to the bland, but popular processed cheese on the Australian market.
Fred Walker then marketed the COON product under the ‘Red Coon’ label and packaged it in a coating of red wax. In 1964, the product officially became known as COON. The red line that forms part of the logo today represents the original red wax that COON was packaged in.
dare was launched in 1996 under the OAK brand. It was positioned as a 'beverage' rather than a flavoured milk.
Later dare stood alone as a brand. In 2005, dare was re-launched as an ‘iced coffee’ brand, appealing to Australians’ growing love affair with coffee and café society.
The OAK brand first emerged in 1903 in Hexham, New South Wales. It was known as the Hunter Valley's brand and made its name as a flavoured milk brand in 1967, becoming synonymous with 'milkshakes' and milk bars in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Oak brand was also used on a range of dairy foods such as cottage cheeses, butter, custards, creams and frozen yogurts the co-operative manufactured at the time.
The brand was launched into Queensland, South Australia and Victoria in 1998. In 2006 it was relaunched as a creamy flavoured milk brand in keeping with its milkshake heritage and is now enjoying growing popularity.
moove was launched in 1979 as the first ‘industry’ brand by Milk Marketing New South Wales and was supported by a heavyweight advertising and promotional campaign. Initially, moove was targeted at males and females in their 20’s but by 1996 it was repositioned to target teenagers.
In 1998, Dairy Farmers purchased the moove brand and today, moove is one of the most popular flavoured milk brands among teenagers.
Shape was launched by Milk Marketing New South Wales in the mid 1980s.
Dairy Farmers purchased the brand in 1998 and the brand remains specifically targeted at women of all ages who are focused on achieving or maintaining a healthy low-fat diet and lifestyle.
In the mid 1960s, Dairy Farmers acquired a licence to make and sell fruit yoghurt under the label of SKI.
SKI stirred fruit yoghurt was launched in 1967 and was an instant and widespread success. It also heralded the Co-operative's first major marketing campaign using television advertisements and point of sale products. The product was so popular that the Co-operative's yoghurt sales trebled in the first week of Ski's introduction.
In September 1992, the Co-operative launched another innovation - SKI Double Up in New South Wales and Victoria. This innovative product was a first for Australia which combined traditional yoghurt with either fruit or cereal and was marketed as an ideal healthy ‘meal on the go’. The innovation in the new packaging caught consumer attention and the product itself kept yoghurt consumers buying it.
Today, SKI remains one of Australia’s favourite yoghurt brands.
The Mil Lel brand originated from a little town in South Australia with the same name. The brand’s focus is on producing high quality, authentic hard grating Italian cheeses.
Today, Mil Lel has a distinctive pack design and is positioned as ‘authentic handmade cooking cheese’.
This authenticity and passion has resulted in Mil Lel Romano, Parmesan, Pecorino and Pepato winning extensive Australian and international awards for quality.
