Owner Saputo has decided to kill off the premium cheese brand after failing to find a buyer for the factory. The mayor of King Island Marcus Blackie says the loss will be deeply felt on the island and he's holding out hope a buyer can still be found.
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00:00They are, and they have been, historically one of the biggest employers on the island,
00:06so there's definitely economic ramifications with that that will be compounding and we'll
00:10need to work through on the island.
00:12One of the things that's led to this has been the declining milk supply and milk availability
00:16on King Island.
00:17A lot of dairy farm operations in recent decades have made the decision to go across to beef
00:21farming on King Island, so the milk availability hasn't been there.
00:24Cheese has to be made with fresh milk, no more than about three days old to make the
00:27best cheese.
00:29So with dairy farmers making the business decision to go across to beef, there is no
00:34longer the milk supply that used to be there on King Island, and so that has kept King
00:38Island Dairy in slow rate production in recent years and that's been a contributing factor
00:42to the decision that was announced today.
00:45That being said, King Island Dairy continues to make outstanding quality cheeses.
00:50King Island Dairy has the biggest trophy cabinet of any corporate headquarters I've ever seen
00:53anywhere in my travels.
00:56As an elected official, I've often joked and boasted that there's nobody I can't impress
01:00or bribe with a great piece of King Island cheese.
01:03And it's also personal for me.
01:05As Mayor, I'm a trade qualified cheesemaker.
01:07After I left the Army, I went to work for King Island Dairy for about 18 months making
01:11mostly blue cheese.
01:13And so it's personal for me and I'm a small part of the recent history myself of King
01:20Island Dairy and so I'm still gripping up my own thoughts about the announcement today.
01:25Really wanted to remind Australians out there that this is a legendary Australian brand
01:28that's on their supermarket shelves up the street.
01:30It's a cheap indulgence.
01:32We know you all love it.
01:34And to go out and buy a King Island Dairy cheese, enjoy that indulgence and throw us
01:38a lifeline one way or another.
01:40So that increased sales or increased brand recognition or a bit of an upsurge in interest
01:44in the brand and sales might just provide options for the survival of the company after all.