Mondelez alone takes more than half that supply to make nearly 80 million tubs of cream cheese products a year, and the company said it could take more.

Suttontown site manager Adam Borchers said Mondelez processed around 150 million litres of milk annually, and while the majority of that was sourced from farmers within the South East, it also relied on Victorian producers near the border to meet its needs.

“All our milk is sourced from within a 150-kilometre radius,” Mr Borchers said.

“Fresh milk continues to be a scarce, but vital commodity for us and we’re increasingly looking for more supply to continue to grow our volumes.

“With that said, we are very much committed to sourcing locally.”

The future

Mr Hunt said production had contracted over the past 10 to 15 years, but things were now looking more positive, with a new generation of farmers coming into the industry.

“People have been exiting the industry as the average age of dairy farmers is getting on a bit,” he said.

“Good prices for land and good prices for stock [cattle] has also led some farmers to go into beef or sell up and exit the industry altogether.

“But then there’s quite a few young people coming back into the industry too, which is a good thing.”

Mr Hunt said the sector needed education and ways to help the next generation of milk producers get into the industry.

“Dairy is a great industry to generate wealth,” he said.

“But we need the have young people come into the industry through different educational pathways, to see what the industry can provide for them.”