Bega Cheese

Bega Cheese Australia

Our History

1900: Original Butter Factory opened.
1920: Original Co-op Store purchased.
1924: Butter Factory built on present site.
1944: Name changed to The Bega Co-operative Society Ltd.
1949: Erection of new Department Store. 1954 Commencement of milk receivals, town milk deliveries and cheese manufacture.
1956: Commencement of milk powder production.
1960: Opening of Canberra branch.
1966: Implementation of bulk milk collection and refrigerated farm milk vats.
1969: New Cheese Factory commissioned. 1971 Commenced manufacture of Kameruka brand cheese.
1972: Amalgamation with A.B.C. Cheese Society at Tilba. 1975 Opening of Queanbeyan branch.
1976: The Co-operative and its farmers participated in a successful campaign to gain access to a fair share of the NSW market for fresh milk.
1981: New Farm Supply Store opened in North Bega.
1982: Despatch tankers conversion from 13,500 litre to 22,500 litre capacity completed.
1983: Doubled capacity of Bega Cheese Factory. Upgraded milk packaging in Bega and closed Queanbeyan factory.
1984: Use of factory-derived cheese starter commenced. Department Store closed and Arcade commenced. New Tetra Pak milk cartoning equipment installed.
1985: Redevelopment of Canberra factory completed. Arrangements made with large Victorian Co-operative, Bonlac, for them to market Bega Cheese in states other than NSW and the ACT.
1986: Commenced packing milk in 2 litre plastic bottles. Sawdust-fired boiler commissioned.
1987: Bodalla Co-operative ceased operation and the thirteen farms supplying Bodalla transferred their supply to Bega.
1990: Specialty cheese production commenced, these cheeses being marketed as the "Kameruka Selection".
1992: Alfomatic cheddaring equipment and block-forming towers installed in the cheese factory.
1994: Tourist facility, recreating the original butter factory, built. Erection commenced of the Spray-Drying Plant and Controlled Temperature Cheese Storage. Milk processing business servicing Cooma and the Snowy Mountains acquired. Commenced cheese export to a number of countries.
1995: Spray-Drying Plant commissioned. A group of East Gippsland farmers commenced supplying milk to Bega and formed the Green Valley Co-operative.
1996: The Society’s fresh milk packaging and distribution activities in the South East of NSW, including Capitol Chilled Foods, were placed in a joint venture with Dairy Farmers Co-operative to form Capitol Chilled Foods (Australia) Pty Ltd, 75%-owned by Dairy Farmers and 25%-owned by Bega.
1998: The cheese Cutting, Packaging and Processing Plant was constructed and commissioned in Ridge Street, Bega. This state-of-the-art plant services the domestic and international markets for value-added Bega Cheese consumer products. The Cutting, Packaging and Processing Unit was officially opened in October by the Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr. The String Cheese plant was commissioned at Bega, and Bega Stringers launched nationally into the domestic market.
1999: Bega Cheese celebrated one hundred years as a dairy co-operative, 1899 – 1999.
2001: In April 2001, the marketing function in Australia for the Bega brand was franchised to Bonland Dairies Ltd, a joint venture between Bonlac and the New Zealand Dairy Board. This arrangement saw the business of Bonlac’s Melbourne cheese cutting and packaging operations transferred to Bega during 2001 / 2002. In July of 2001, Bega Cheese commissioned its cheese shredding plant.

Work completed on the transfer of business from Bonlac, effectively increasing the throughput of the Bega plant to 40,000 metric tonnes of product per annum. Bega Cheese also commissioned its processed cheddar cheese canning line, adding this function to the growing capabilities of the Bega operations to service both domestic and international demand.
2002: During the transfer of the marketing function to Bonland Dairies, Bega packaging was updated to rejuvenate the brand.
2004: The inaugural Bega Cup takes place. The Bega Cup is an AFL football competition for Victorian Primary Schools giving kids the chance to win a coaching clinic at their school run by the Collingwood Football Club.
2005: Packaging again updated in 2005 to the format you see on supermarket shelves today. Bega launches the “Better Buy Bega” advertising campaign which runs until 2005.

Pre 2001

2001 - 2005

2005 Onward
2005: Bega launches “The Magic of Bega” advertising campaign.