For the last 100 or so years,
the words ‘dairy farming’
have painted the classic
image of dairy cows gently
plodding to and from a milking
shed twice a day.
Now the folk at Spring Sheep are
doing their best to broaden our
perspectives on dairy farming
and introduce New Zealand to the
world of sheep milk.
“Sheep milk is a very traditional
milk with many modern life
advantages” says Scottie
Chapman, CEO of Spring Sheep
Milk Co. “People have been
milking sheep for thousands of
years in many parts of Europe
and the Middle East, but its only
recently that we’ve truly come to
appreciate the nutritional benefits
of this very easily digestible and
nutrient rich milk”.
Historically, sheep’s milk was
mostly used in cheese making, but
now thanks to better understanding
of its unique properties, consumer
demand is rapidly growing for
‘non-traditional’ product formats
such as yoghurts, drinking milks,
baby formula and other nutritional
powders & nutraceutical products.
Spring Sheep Milk Co is jointly
owned by Pāmu and SLC. These
organisations are working together
to create good pastures, lead the
world in animal welfare practises
and deliver high quality grass-fed
sheep milk products.
As all good food products do, it
begins with nature.
The milk is collected from
specialised dairy sheep across
farms in the Central North Island
from Cambridge to Taupō. It is then
transported to Food and Innovation
Waikato and spray-dried into
powder.
From there the powder is turned
into a premium infant formula
range, everyday nutrition powders,
and chewable tablets.
Scottie Chapman is no stranger to
building a trusted agri-business. As
an ex Zespri man he knows how
to take a brand and scale it up and
that’s exactly what he is doing with
his latest specialty dairy business
venture.
“A number of the people involved in
Spring Sheep are ex Zespri people.
Zespri is the only brand I know of
that has created a genuine global
brand out of New Zealand agribusiness.
Others are trying but no
one else has achieved it anywhere
near the scale Zespri has,” he says.
“Our goal was to start with a
green fields opportunity and
create another industry that can
do that. With NZ Sheep milk’s
environmental, animal welfare and
consumer advantages it has the
opportunity to become another
‘Zespri’ in the future.”
To achieve this, Spring Sheep
are working closely with Food
Innovation Waikato. Specialty dairy
nutrition products are a lucrative
business and because of New
Zealand’s geographical distance
to Asia, it’s far more practical than
liquid milk.
The Spring Sheep milk powder is
processed by a state-of-the-art
spray dryer sourced from Tetra Pak
- a leading international supplier of
this equipment.
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