That’s the new frontier in the competitive battle for Australia’s multi-billion dollar milk market with a new $31 million plant opened in Cobden in Victoria’s west to process microfiltered milk sourced from local farms.
Microfiltered milk is pasteurised like other milk, but also goes through a microfiltration process that removes more than 99 per cent of the non-harmful bacteria that causes milk to sour. The new microfiltration Anchor brand milk will have a shelf life around a third longer than normal milk, a big edge for the brand with use-by date a key decision factor for consumers.
Regular milk lasts about 15 days on the fridge shelf. Microfiltration extends this to 21 days.
While microfiltered milk is already available in Canada and the United Kingdom, the new Anchor milk is the first microfiltered milk in Australia and will initially be sold in Victoria at Woolworths.