Why is Ashgrove bottling milk?
Bottling of milk began at Ashgrove in March 2008 in response to a growing number of requests for milk from customers in the Ashgrove Cheese shop.
The Bennett families of Ashgrove have been producing milk on the farm for over 5 generations. Value adding of the milk into cheese commenced in 1993. Incorporating liquid milk into the production facility was a natural progression for value adding to the milk on farm.
What makes Ashgrove milk special?
All the milk bottled at Ashgrove is sourced on site from the Ashgrove Farms dairy herd. This means the milk is bottled fresh from the cows with little transportation or movement which results in better flavour and better shelf life.
No permeate or milk solids non fat are added to the milk. The difference is evident in the flavour of the milk and the excellent ability to froth when steamed for coffee.
The Ashgrove Farms cows are fed on a pasture based diet. Large irrigation systems have been installed on the farm to ensure grass continues to grow even in the dry summer months.
Pasture fed cows produce an excellent flavoured milk free from flavour taints resulting from fodder crops or supplementary feed. The cows graze freely across the fields and get plenty of exercise from their twice daily walks to and from the dairy.
Cows fed a predominantly pasture diet produce a much yellower coloured milk fat than cows fed on concentrate feeds. This means the cheese and butter products made from this milk are a rich yellow in colour.
Use of milk from only the one farm source does result in some seasonal variation in the bottled milk. As the weather changes and the feed quality varies you will see some seasonal variation in the colour and composition of the milk.
Who are the children on the milk label?
Ashgrove is a vertically integrated business that is proud to be family owned and run. The two boys featured on the milk bottles are the sons of Paul and Bernadette Bennett, William and Angus. Paul is the Ashgrove Farms Manager in charge of the entire Ashgrove dairy farming operation.
William and Angus are the fifth generation of the Bennett family to live on the Ashgrove Farms property and milk cows. They are therefore very appropriate ambassadors for the Ashgrove Milk brand.