King Islanders are hopeful of finding a buyer for their famed dairy this year with the Tasmanian premier weighing up a big move to rescue the brand.
King Island leaders say there’s renewed hope in finding a buyer for its famed dairy brand, four months after its current owners declared there were no takers for the processor.
In November 2023, Canadian dairy giant Saputo announced it was seeking a buyer for the popular King Island Dairy brand — but last September declared there were no interested parties and they would “retire the brand.”
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff accused Saputo of not working hard enough to find a buyer prior to Christmas and said the option of temporary government ownership of the processor was an option.
“It would be a real blow to King Island if the multinational behemoth is planning to walk away from the King Island Dairy brand to promote its other brands,” Mr Rockliff said.
“We will not stand idly by while a global company welshes on its responsibility to work with the government for the benefit of Tasmania.”
Saputo declared in September it would retire the King Island Dairy brand. Photo: Supplied
Mr Rockliff said the Tasmanian Government would examine special legislation to force Saputo to make a fair sale of its assets, located just north of the island’s main town of Currie.
Tasmanian Opposition Leader Rebecca White is yet to confirm whether her MPs would back such a move, given the Rockliff government’s minority status in the Tasmanian parliament.
Ms White’s office was contacted by The Weekly Times for comment.
King Island Council deputy mayor Vernon Philbey applauded the government’s efforts and said a buyer needed to be found.
“There’s renewed hope back in the process and we’re thankful for the leadership role the Tasmanian Government is playing,” Mr Philbey said.
“We’re talking about a business that employs between 60 and 70 people on an island that has a population of roughly 1600 people. Take King Island Dairy out of the equation and that’s a big chunk of the workforce.
“Our mayor, our council have been working hard to find a buyer, the Tasmanian government are being proactive, so there’s a growing potential for a buyer in 2025, I would say.”
Saputo have been contacted by The Weekly Times for comment.
Following the September announcement, TasFarmers president Ian Sauer said Saputo should not walk away from King Island and needed to “try harder to find a buyer.”
“As a large multinational company, Saputo cannot simply walk away,” he said.
King Island lost more than 100 jobs in 2012 with the closure of its abattoir by Brazilian-owned processor JBS.
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