The cream of the crop

Australia has long prospered on the back of the agricultural industry and by processing the raw materials it produces.

And Victoria’s Western Districts has long been a stalwart of the dairy industry. But farming and turning those primary materials into something consistently profitable can be a tough game.

The vagaries of weather, volatility in input costs, as well as competition from overseas processors and global food producers can all take their toll.

All of this makes the story of the family-owned Bulla Dairy Foods all the more remarkable. Bulla was founded in 1910 and is still owned by the same three founding families – now in to the sixth generation of family ownership.

At the turn of the 20^th century, Thomas Sloan established the Bulla Cream Company in the Melbourne suburb of Moonee Ponds after pioneering a new method of thickening cream.

Thomas’s brother William supplied the milk from his dairy farm at nearby Bulla and together they distributed thickened cream to customers by horse and cart.

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From those humble beginnings, the company looks very different today, with a sizeable manufacturing base now centred in dairy country near Colac in Southwest Victoria, as well as factories in Dandenong and Mulgrave, and a distribution centre and head office in Derrimut in Melbourne.

Although operations have changed significantly and the product offering has expanded greatly, some things have stayed the same - the Sloan, Anderson and Downey families still own Bulla to this day.

“We've come a long way since those early years and we now have over 1000 employees,” says Bulla Chief Executive Officer Allan Hood.

When you work with family-owned companies like Bulla, trust and the longevity of the relationship can be all important. ANZ has been supporting Bulla and its founding families for more than 40 years.

The culture the families have imbued at Bulla is still vital to its success. They focus on protecting the brand and take great pride on being an Australian-owned and operated company which has grown over generations and continues to flourish.

That pride in its history is a big attraction for staff and the founding families love seeing their products go on to supermarket shelves for Australian consumers.

Facing challenges

ANZ has been with Bulla through both good and tough times, taking a long-term view when Bulla has faced challenges, from the pandemic to droughts impacting farmgate milk prices. Peaks and troughs are part of the business and the troughs are the true test of a banking relationship.

Deep relationships are built on history, standing with a customer when they weather a storm helps build the trust required when growth and expansion are back on the agenda. We recently provided the funding for a new manufacturing processing facility in Colac. This investment will lay the foundation for Bulla’s next phase of growth by significantly increasing production capacity.

History also provides deep insights into the business, it has allowed us to build strong relationships with Bulla’s management team and its board. Knowing Bulla’s business and what they’re striving to achieve has enabled us to help Bulla realise its growth opportunities, according to Chief Financial Officer Anna Pezzuto.

“Our Greenfield site in Colac is really exciting. It's one of the biggest investments we've made,” Anna says. “ANZ has been there from the idea stage to execution. They've supported us and worked with us on different scenarios, never making it seem like an impossible feat given the enormity of the decision for our company.”

The new facility will help Bulla continue to innovate with new dairy products for an ever-changing retail market. Innovation is critical to Bulla, given the enormous potential of export markets to Australia’s north, CEO Allan Hood says.

“There is such a strong demand for Australian dairy. For us, that international demand is primarily from Southeast Asia and China,” Allan says. “We've got a long-established business in these markets.”

New markets

Bulla regularly visits Asia to study these markets, their consumers and how local tastes are evolving. Their sales in Asia are growing and ANZ’s network across Asia has helped the company develop and maintain relationships with customers and partners there.

A good example is our colleagues in Singapore or Hong Kong, who have clients in food distribution who may be looking for new sources of supply. Our network allows us to make connection between Australian and Asian companies that can unlock new distribution pathways in those regions.

Bulla is another great example of an Australian company grasping the vast opportunity Asia has to offer, targeting markets with a growing middle class and a taste for premium food products. Australian agriculture and produce has a great reputation in global markets for a good reason.

“The future is really exciting,” Alan says. “We've got great brands, we've got a great future ahead of us both domestically and internationally. I think taking Bulla and sharing it with the rest of the world is going to be fantastic.”

Helping companies like Bulla achieve their goals is why I get out of bed in the morning. It would surely make Thomas and William Sloan proud to see what the company and its founding families have achieved in the past 114 years.

Tony Fato is an Associate Director, Institutional Corporate Banking