Picton’s Country Valley milk and Campos Coffee brew sustainable partnership

FAMILY-RUN dairy farm Country Valley has secured a deal with Campos Coffee to deliver more than 2500 litres of milk every week to its four flagship cafes across Sydney.

Country Valley owner John Fairley has partnered with Campos Coffee and is supplying more than 2500 litres of milk to its four flagship cafes each week.

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FAMILY-run dairy farm Picton’s Country Valley has secured another big win by signing a lucrative partnership with Campos Coffee to deliver more than 2500 litres of milk every week to its four flagship cafes across Sydney.

Fresh milk, which has also been produced sustainably and locally in Picton, is taken from Country Valley to Campos’s flagship cafes at Alexandria, Newtown, Dulwich Hill and Barangaroo as well as its training centre each week.

Country Valley owner John Fairley said he was very excited about the partnership and he was approached by Campos Coffee founder and CEO Will Young after he heard of Country Valley’s sustainable farming principles.

“I am able to charge a sustainable price for my milk. Campos recognises this and they are going to keep the industry sustainable,’’ Mr Fairley said.

Mr Young said Campos made sure they paid a reasonable price for their milk, well above the $1 a litre often facing farmers in the current supermarket climate, to make the industry more sustainable and profitable for farmers.

Campos Coffee founder and Will Young said it took him one minute to decide to partner with Picton’s Country Valley.

“We pay 30 to 35 per cent more for milk now but it’s worthwhile,’’ he said.

“People are working to make a better product and that is another part of investment.

“I made the decision (to partner with Country Valley) in one minute but I had to explain to the company why we were making a seemingly irrational decision,’’ he said of paying more for milk.

“We put everything into ensuring our coffee is a superior product and to not do that for our milk does not relate.’’

Country Valley Dairy farm owner John Fairley at the afternoon milking of his cows at Picton.

As part of the deal, the coffee bean husks from the Campos roaster in Botany and its coffee grounds will then be used by Country Valley to be mulched back into the soil at the dairy farm.

“Our waste will go into the soil and the nutrients in the waste will go into the milk,’’ Mr Young said.

Mr Fairley said partnerships like this one were extremely important to ensure the long-term sustainability of dairy farming at a time when the industry was facing a national downturn and the major manufacturers were cutting the price they paid farmers for milk.

He predicted the price for raw milk would drop again this year but he said he would not drop the price he paid to his farmers.

John Fairley is a sixth generation dairy farmer.

“I pay 15 to 18 per cent more than the big companies do,’’ he said.

Mr Fairley said Mr Young was also impressed by Country Valley’s sustainable farming principles.

“I don’t use chemical fertilisers and I compost our own chook manure,’’ he said.

“My soil is turned into good, natural soil and the cows get the full nutrients of the soil so I don’t feed the cows artificial vitamins or additives.’’

Campos Coffee pay well above the $1 a litre for milk farmers are getting in the supermarket. Photo: Supplied

Mr Young heard about Country Valley through Picton and Camden R Coffee Co cafe owner Ryan Tierney who uses the milk and he described as a good ambassador for sourcing local products.

“People love the product and are happy to pay a little more,’’ Mr Young said.

Mr Young said he hoped the partnership with Country Valley would grow in the future because the Campos team would explain to staff who attended the training centre about the milk so they could consider using it in their cafes.