Gippsland Jersey was named Australia’s best milk in the Dairy Industry Association of Australia awards ceremony on Friday, May 17.

It followed the accolade of being named Victoria’s best milk only a week prior.

Sallie Jones and Steve Ronalds co-founded Gippsland Jersey eight years ago on the back of the dairy crisis with the collapse of Murray Goulburn, claw backs and unsustainable farm gate milk prices.

Both were suffering individual crises – Sallie the heartache of her father (a dairy farmer) taking his own life, and Steve wondering whether he, as the fifth generation family member, could keep operating the dairy farm.

Sallie has a background in marketing and Steve is a dairy farmer with a background working for milk processors. Steve and Bec Ronalds were the first suppliers of milk to Gippsland Jersey.

As the customer base grew over time, more farmers have been recruited as suppliers. There are now five dairy farms supplying milk for the brand.

“We want to keep growing the brand and customer base, so we can recruit more farmers,” Sallie said.

Gippsland Jersey was founded on three pillars – to pay farmers a decent farm gate price for milk, wellbeing through social change initiatives promoting rural mental health awareness and suicide prevention, and a third pillar of promoting kindness.

At the time Gippsland Jersey was founded, Australia’s dairy farmers were producing almost 10 billion litres of milk.

That has since dropped to about eight billion litres, and continues to decrease.

That period has also seen the rise and growth of small and boutique dairy processors and product manufacturers.

That includes the growth of boutique paddock to plate producers.

All milk bought by Gippsland Jersey is sourced from small, family-owned farms.

Initially, the Jersey milk was processed by a third party. A crowd funding campaign enabled the renovation and redevelopment of a dairy processing factory on the family farm at Lakes Entrance owned by Sallie’s mother and late father.

This site is now the milk processing facility, production factory for value-added dairy products, cool store and distribution centre for Gippsland Jersey.

Since opening their own processing factory, Sallie and Steve have diversified their product development beyond the staple of liquid milk.

Initially, wholesale supply of liquid milk to cafes, restaurants, supermarkets and general stores, was supported by a fleet of caravan cafés selling milkshakes and coffees.

They now operate five caravans across Gippsland and in Melbourne.

Two are stationary — located at Lakes Entrance Slipway and in Stratford — and three travel to events, representing the Gippsland Jersey brand.

Alongside processing liquid milk in one and two litre bottles, value-adding produces cultured butter, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, crème fraiche, non-homogenised milk specifically created for baristas and, a recent new addition, yoghurt.

Steve and Sallie have held an on-farm event for baristas, café and restaurant owners and cheesemakers each year for the past three years, which has grown from an initial 84 to more than 200 attendees in 2024.

The focus of the day is to educate attendees about milk and dairy farming and their connections to the finished product.

Gippsland Jersey is one of those smaller processors and dairy producers that is obviously, as the saying goes, punching well above its weight.

“We want to be the number one household table milk in Gippsland and Melbourne,” Sallie said.

“We continue to build brand awareness, producing a premium Jersey milk and supplying customers that respect and value our product and our farmers.

“We do this with a marketing budget that’s the equivalent of the sniff of an oily rag. But we’re up for the challenge.”

Gippsland Jersey products are distributed through Victoria and NSW.

Last year, Sallie represented Gippsland Jersey at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival food and drink hall of fame awards, and was one of the 2023 inductees.

Sallie was recognised with the local hero accolade, for her role in co-founding the company and its principles of fairer milk prices and supporting the wellbeing and mental health of dairy farmers and their families.

In May this year, Steve and Sallie celebrated consecutive accolades from the Dairy Industry Association Australia’s Victorian and national awards.

In the DIAA Victorian Dairy Product Competition, Gippsland Jersey was awarded Overall Milk Champion for its full cream milk, and highest scoring pasteurised (homogenised) milk.

In the DIAA national Awards of Excellence, Gippsland Jersey achieved the highest scoring unmodified full-fat milk.

“We’re calling it the Best ‘Real’ Milk in Australia,” Sallie said.

“Our flagship product is Gippsland Jersey Full Cream Milk, and now DIAA have deemed it our jewel in our crown.

“What a journey the past eight years have been for us.

“It has been an eventful journey, with many ups and downs. We’ve faced numerous challenges, including the ongoing pursuit of perfect milk quality.

“There’s been times when it hasn’t met expectations, and we’ve had to change course rapidly.

“We’re confident now that Gippsland Jersey consistently offers incredible quality and it’s the best milk for coffee, breakfast, or to enjoy any way.”

For Sallie and Steve, a lot of the sacrifice to achieving success among their peers has been around family.

“Our families have provided unwavering support throughout this journey,” she said.

“Many sacrifices have been made, and we couldn’t have done it without their understanding and commitment.

“Our children are observing our efforts, and perhaps they will be the ones to further develop Gippsland Jersey, one day, when Steve, Bec, Pete and I step back.

“At least, hopefully, we are offering them an example of how to pursue your dreams and achieve them.”

Sallie said the farmer suppliers and factory workers needed acknowledging for their commitment to the brand.

“We attribute all the credit to our farmers, who produce the incredible raw milk and care for their cows and farms in a beautiful manner.

“We also acknowledge our factory staff, who take immense pride in their roles and work tirelessly day after day to create exceptional products.

“Lastly, we appreciate our entire team for handling the product with care and delivering it to our most important people – our customers.

“We value everyone involved with Gippsland Jersey.”

At the national awards, Gippsland Jersey also received Gold awards for its full cream milk, its unhomogenised milk, its light milk and its ghee, and Silver awards for its unsalted butter and cultured sour cream.

Choosing Jersey milk for their brand was about more than sourcing it from the original farm.

Steve said Jersey milk was a superior dairy product.

“It’s a very dense, heavy milk, that’s high in fat and protein. It’s got more calcium and vitamin A and D,” he said.

“It’s got 4.2 per cent fat, it’s a much more fuller milk, and that’s where all the flavour and the taste is.”

A company with heart at its centre, Gippsland Jersey has become known for its annual calendar project, which also grew out of the downturn in the industry and the death of Michael Bowen, Sallie’s father.

The calendar each year tells a story of 12 farmers or farming families in Gippsland, and is launched at a community event held at the Lakes Entrance factory site just prior to Christmas.

“We know farmers are the backbone of the economy,” Sallie said.

“We want to see more family farms remain sustainable and that’s why we need to pay them a fair price, so they remain in the ownership of each generation.

“For us, it’s absolutely worth getting behind agriculture here in Gippsland.”

Adding further social awareness to the brand, each milk bottle is labelled with a story about a farmer supplier.

“We think it’s important people who buy the milk know about the farmers and the cows producing this product,” Sallie said.