We Now Offer Milk on Tap Across Melbourne!

As you know, we are always on the lookout for new ideas and partners to help us on our sustainability journey.

And we have some exciting news to share!

This month we partnered with legendary Tassie company, The Udder Way, to deliver our Organic Full Cream and Low Fat Milk direct to customers, taking another step towards our mission to eliminate single-use plastic milk bottles from our business, and your lives!

Australian designed and made, The Udder Way Keg System is a convenient and reusable milk storage and handling unit designed for food service and retail. Each unit holds 18L of milk, and allows for refrigerated storage and dispensing of milk from an installed tap ensuring fresh and free-flowing milk, without the waste and clutter involved with conventional single-use plastic bottles and crates.

We are currently the sole milk supplier to food service and retailers using The Udder Way Keg System across Victoria. 

You will be able to visit retailers such as The Leaf Store in Elwood or Hawthorn and pour your own organic milk from a purpose built retail dispensing unit, using our 1L Milk in Glass bottles. Participating cafés will also have the convenience of organic milk on tap, with direct access to fresh, free-flowing milk for lattes, cappuccinos, milkshakes and more.

 Click here to find a retailer or café near you.

Partnering with The Udder Way is one of many steps in our sustainability journey, says our boss Simon.

“Since introducing Milk in Glass three years ago we have diverted approximately 26.9 tonnes of plastic from landfill. Limiting plastic waste isn’t cheap or easy but we know there is a lot of support out there for sustainable processes and packaging.” 

“Collaborating with innovative businesses like The Udder Way takes us another step closer to eliminating single-use plastics and fulfilling our sustainability goals.”

The Udder Way Keg was created by Tassie café owner Ed Crick, who developed the system out of a frustration that over 500 million single-use plastic bottles are used every year, with less than half being recycled.

“We have partnered with Schulz Organic Dairy because we share a similar vision and mission.  Each of our Kegs eliminates the need for 7,000 single-use plastic bottles over an 8-10 year lifespan before being recycled.”

“We are thrilled to announce, due to our partnership with Schulz Organic Dairy, we now have enough Kegs in rotation that sets a cycle in place to eliminate the use of one million single-use plastic bottles each year, for the next 8-10 years,” says Ed.

Ed Crick, founder of The Udder Way.

If you are interested in installing The Udder Way Keg System into your business or would like further information please click here or email us at milkinglass@schulzorganicdairy.com.au 

Schulz Shorts: Carolyne Rylance

How long have you worked at Schulz and what do you do here? 

I have worked at Schulz for 12 years. I currently cut and pack all our cheeses and have also recently been involved in new product development. My very first job at Schulz was filling the milk bottles by hand – I used to sit on a milk crate on the factory floor to do it!

What are some of the greatest changes you have seen during your time at Schulz?

I started working here with Simon in the original factory where everything was done by hand, including pot setting the yogurt.

Two of the biggest changes I’ve seen are the introduction of automation in the factory and the volume of milk now being processed in various forms.

What is your favourite Schulz product and why?

We used to make an apricot yogurt drink which we sold through the Farmers Markets, it was delicious!

How do you have your coffee?

Half strength latte, with Schulz milk of course!

What’s the best thing about living in Timboon / in the country?

The further away from the city, the better for me! I love farm life and Timboon provides me with the perfect combination of beach and trees. Timboon has given us everything we need to raise a family.

As a Timboon local, what are your top 3 things to do in Timboon?

1. The Rail Trail

2. Beach – only 15 minutes down the road

3. Supporting the local clubs in the area

What would your last meal be?

Roast lamb and roast potatoes.

What’s your go-to knock-off drink?

Coffee!

Schulz Shorts: Paul 'Chook' Fowler, Farm Manager

Tell us what you do at Schulz in 25 words or less.

I manage the day-to-day running of the farm, which involves looking after the health of our cows, cropping and pasture management as well as the milking program.

If you were in a movie, what would it be and what character would you play?

Gerard Butler’s character in Gamer, an American science fiction/action film about participants in a game being controlled by ‘gamers’ in real life. The gamer controlling Gerard Butler (me) in the film is called Simon (ha,ha). In the film my character breaks free of the game because ‘Simon’ trusts him and he knows what he’s doing!

What’s your earliest dairy memory?

The 1983 Ash Wednesday fires. I was 10 years old and had to step up on the farm to help with milking our cows, before and after school, while Dad was fighting fires.

How do you have your coffee?

Schulz Organic Full Cream Milk cappuccino.

What’s the most unusual way to use a Schulz product?

As mentioned in last month’s Moosletter, we have been spreading milk out onto the pastures to increase sugar content in the grasses. This sweetens the grass, promoting growth and improving soil health. 

If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you take with you? 

1. Foxtel, so I can keep watching the footy.

2. My wife, so I don't get in trouble.

3. A spit, so I can still have a roast every Sunday.

What is your favourite saying on the farm?

Good job Bob.

What would your last meal be?

Roast lamb with all the trimmings.

What is your go-to knock off drink?

A nice cold beer.

National Finalist in delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards

Earlier in the month we found out that we were National Finalists in the Dairy category in this year’s delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards.

What an honour!

As most of you know by now, our philosophy is simple – happy cows means delicious milk. This is at the heart of everything we do, from soil health and pasture management, to the daily (often hourly) gentle love and care of our cows. 

We work hard to make real dairy products that are simple and pure, and are thrilled to be recognised by delicious. for doing something we love every day.

This year the delicious. Awards took a more holistic approach with judges taste testing the full Schulz Organic Dairy product range from our hallmark Full Cream Milk through to our luscious herb infused Organic Quark. This year’s judging panel included the culinary expertise of  Alla Wolf-Tasker,  Andrew McConnell,  Jo Barrett,  Josh Niland,  Lennox Hastie,  Matt Moran,  Matt Stone and Peter Gilmore.

We would like to acknowledge the other great dairy producers in our category and wish everyone the best of luck. 

Winners will be announced in the September issue of delicious. 

Schulz Shorts: Shari Armstrong, Trainee - Farm Operations

Tell us what you do at Schulz in 25 words or less.

A bit of everything honestly! I’m completing a Traineeship in Agriculture (Dairy) and learning how to take care of the animals and the land at Schulz Organic Dairy. At the moment I am helping with milking and calving, and also establishing a happy colony of bees. It’s great I can bring this passion with me onto the farm and incorporate it into my job.

If someone was making a movie about your life, who would you want to play you?

I wouldn't want a movie made about my life! I’m much more inspired by other people’s lives and ideas. 

What’s your earliest dairy memory?

When I began working at Schulz Organic Dairy, I wondered if I’d be cut out for farm life. I have a retail background so farming is a very different job! Some days it is hard, physical work but it’s always very rewarding. And there is definitely more cow poo than I had ever imagined!

What’s the most unusual way to use a Schulz product?

Well, the most unusual way I’ve used Schulz in the past is by reusing one of the returnable Milk in Glass bottles as a vase!

If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you take with you? 

I would take my partner for good company and good conversation. My dog, as she is the sweetest thing, and a beehive because keeping bees is fascinating. 

Shari's Bees on the Schulz Farm

Tell us your favourite anecdote of life on the farm.
The typical farmer comment: “She’ll be right!” Rarely do days on the farm run to plan but we always get there in the end. 

What would your last meal be?

Homemade pizzas made with friends. 

What is your go-to knock off drink? 

I’m not much of a drinker, but I do like an icy cold cider on a hot afternoon. 

Milk in Glass: Our Three Year Report

Well, would you look at that – our Schulz Organic Dairy Milk in Glass project is celebrating its third birthday. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and for the team here at Schulz fun looks like keeping as much plastic out of our business as possible!*

(*More on this later…)

Our Milk in Glass story started back in October 2017 when we first started providing milk in returnable, refillable glass bottles at our Farmers Markets. Why? Well, as our founder Simon Schulz said at the time: “I'm mindful of how bad single-use plastics are for our environment and I feel really uncomfortable that as a business we contribute to the problem.”

“I trialled glass-bottled milk at our stand at Farmers Markets,” he recounts. “We accepted returns of these same glass bottles to clean, refill and resell them. On our first week we sold out within thirty minutes, and the demand just kept growing.”

So you could say we were onto a good thing.

In August 2018 we launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund the equipment needed to release 3000 glass bottles a week to our retailers. We overshot our funding target, and voila! Milk in Glass was released to the world. We had a wonderful cohort of founding retailers join us from day one, as well as many loyal customers who quickly converted to the new way of buying (and returning) their bottles of milk.

The challenges of Covid have meant that bottle return rates have slightly dropped over the last three years – the average return rate is currently 74% – but we also know that there’s a lot of love out there for our bottles and they are somewhat of a collectors’ item! For those of you who are regularly returning, congratulations on your cleanliness and preparation. For the best results, we need your returned bottles to be sparkling clean and free from lids and collars. More often than not, this is what we receive – thank you.

In 2021 we upped the environmental ante when we introduced a pilot partnership with Rethink Recycling Co-op to help recycle the plastic lids and collars. Although our lid collection collaboration with Rethink Recycle is currently paused due to to a processing issue, stay tuned for the next phase of the pilot program. We also won a whole bunch of awards last year – some for the milk and some for the glass – which reminded us just how valued this product is by both consumers and the industry.

But while all the awards are nice, it’s the plastic-saved results that really do the talking: over the last three years we have diverted 26.8 tonnes of plastic from landfill. That’s the equivalent weight of two massive farm tractors, or 60 Jersey cows!

Thank you to EVERYONE – customers, retailers, staff, supporters – who have helped us build to this result. It’s a brilliant effort, and it is still only the beginning of what we can achieve. Onwards and upwards for Schulz Milk in Glass!

So, what are we doing next? Well, with Milk in Glass flourishing we’re hoping to add more Victorian retailers to our stockist list in 2022. And our drive towards packaging innovation certainly hasn’t stalled, as we’re about to launch a brand new product in fully compostable packaging!

Keen followers of our social media accounts will know what we’re talking about… and for everyone else, stay tuned for a tasty new Schulz Organic Dairy product that is due to launch very soon!