Norco

Norco fast facts (July 2020)

• Established: 1895 in New South Wales and Queensland
• Turnover: $676 million
• Member businesses: 304

Norco Co-operative was established in Byron Bay, New South Wales in 1895. It is a 100 per cent Australian farmer owned dairy co-operative with 304 active members on 205 dairy farms in northern NSW and south-east Queensland.

Norco processes around 214 million litres of milk each year, with fresh milk bottling plants in Labrador (QLD) and Raleigh (NSW), and an ice-cream plant in Lismore (NSW). Norco milk retails throughout Australia’s eastern states, and its ice cream produced for third parties is sold throughout Australia, China, Japan and the United States.

Norco also owns 30 rural supply stores in Northern NSW and South East Queensland, generating additional revenue and supporting its members with bulk purchasing arrangements.

Co-operative Conversations

Watch Co-operative Conversations, Episode 3 Part 2: Roundtable. During this roundtable we examine how some of Australia’s leading agricultural co-ops work to maximise produce and the food manufacturing supply chain. Journalist Pete Lewis and our farmer panel, including Michael Hampson, Chief Executive Officer of Norco Co-operative Ltd, discuss and explore how maximising their produce into marketable products can transform producers from price takers to price makers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-f1vrBRHug

"Norco's been around for 125 years, and yes. We have value added a lot of dairy product over that time. We currently a manufacture a fairly full range of milk product, fresh milk products for both Australia, and overseas. We export fresh milk over to China, and parts of Southeast Asia. We also have a bunch of specialty products where our team have innovated to find different mixes of proteins and fats that provide enhanced milk for coffee frothing, et cetera, through our vibrant route business that we have. We also have an award winning range of flavoured milks that Norco markets under, under its brands throughout our heartland also." - Michael Hampson, CEO, Norco Co operative Ltd

Download and read the in-depth Norco Co-operative Business Model Case Study, produced by the Australian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development (ACSBD) is a research centre of the University of Southern Queensland.