{"id":815990,"date":"2026-07-22T06:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T06:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/815990\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T06:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T06:43:11","slug":"dairy-giant-lactalis-to-close-longwarry-factory-in-gippsland-by-2027","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/815990\/","title":{"rendered":"Dairy giant Lactalis to close Longwarry factory in Gippsland by 2027"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s largest dairy processor has announced it is closing a major dairy factory in the small town of Longwarry in Victoria’s east.<\/p>\n

Lactalis Australia said it decided to shut down the West Gippsland site by early 2027 following a “comprehensive review” of its manufacturing network.<\/p>\n

The factory in the town of about 4,000 people is well known for producing specialty dairy ingredients and products as well as milk powders.<\/p>\n

Lactalis acquired the Longwarry factory in 2019, but its purchase of rival processor Fonterra Australia<\/a> in 2025 left the business with a surplus of manufacturing sites in Victoria and a lack of milk to supply them all.<\/p>\n

“We do not underestimate what this closure means for our Longwarry team and their families,” Lactalis Australia chief executive Mal Carseldine said.<\/p>\n

“Our employees have contributed meaningfully to our company and the region, and they have our commitment to support them through this transition.<\/p>\n

“Our priority is to ensure a respectful and transparent consultation process.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Lactalis took over rival processor Fonterra in 2025. (Reuters: Stephane Mahe)<\/p>\n

Lactalis said the decision to close the plant reflects what it calls “operational realities”.<\/p>\n

As part of its purchase, Lactalis took over the Fonterra factory at Darnum, about 20 minutes away from the Longwarry site.<\/p>\n

Production currently undertaken at Longwarry will be transferred to the Darnum facility and other Lactalis sites across Victoria and Australia.<\/p>\n

The company said Longwarry operated at about 40 per cent capacity, while Darnum operated at about 70 per cent capacity.<\/p>\n

The Darnum plant also has more modern infrastructure, ongoing investment and significant growth potential.<\/p>\n

Phased closure<\/p>\n

United Workers Union national dairy coordinator Neil Smith said there were about 49 workers at the Longwarry site.<\/p>\n

He believes “everybody will be gone” once the site shuts.<\/p>\n

Mr Smith said workers have been advised there will be a phased closure, with part of the site shutting in August, a further shutdown in November and the whole site will be closed in the first quarter of next year.<\/p>\n

Mr Smith said despite Lactalis saying the newly acquired Darnum factory will take on production currently done at Longwarry, he did not believe many jobs would be transferred there.<\/p>\n

“They’re meeting one-on-one with all the staff, and there’s some, there are obviously some options and availability at Darnum,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said the staff were in shock.<\/p>\n

“The staff were thinking that part of the site might close, but they certainly weren’t thinking that the whole site would shut,” he said.<\/p>\n

“This is what happens when multinationals are allowed to acquire other big businesses; they just consolidate, and that’s exactly what’s happening here.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Neil Smith says there are 49 workers at the Longwarry dairy factory. (ABC Rural: Warwick Long)<\/p>\n

The company has assured dairy farmers that the Longwarry plant closure would not affect milk supply contracts.<\/p>\n

“Lactalis remains deeply committed to Victoria,” Mr Carseldine said.<\/p>\n

“Alongside Lactalis\u2013Mainland Dairy, we employ more than 2,000 people and continue to invest in manufacturing capability and regional communities.”<\/p>\n

The company said it will phase out manufacturing at the site with a final closure in the first half of 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia’s largest dairy processor has announced it is closing a major dairy factory in the small town of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,17471,391144,25979,64691,367401,2185,384140],"class_list":["post-815990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-dairy","tag-darnum","tag-farms","tag-lactalis","tag-lactalis-australia","tag-rural","tag-west-gippsland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}