The decision was made after a “careful review” of its fresh milk manufacturing operations across the ACT and NSW.

Because there are no dairy farms in Canberra, the company says its milk was traditionally sourced from outside the ACT and transported to Griffith for production, bypassing more efficient and sustainable manufacturing locations like its Penrith facility.

“The changing nature of the dairy market within the ACT has meant that Bega’s Griffith facility (previously known as Capitol Chilled Foods) has not been operating at its full capacity for some time,” explained the company.

“This, combined with the fact that there have not been dairy farms within the ACT for many years, has created challenges for the Canberra site.”

The company added that there would be no change to the brand or the milk inside the bottles across Canberra Milk or Dairy Farmers brand.

Darryn Wallace, executive general manager of Bega Dairy and Drinks at Bega Group says the move will allow the company to maintain its high standards across product quality and customer service.

“Relocating to Penrith will utilise the benefits of a larger full-time operation specialising in fresh milk production,” said Wallace.

In addition, the company said it would work closely with the 19 employees affected by the relocation and provide redundancy packages or redeployment where possible.