THE much-loved Kiewa Iced Coffee will aim to be replicated when Wagga-based dairy Riverina Fresh expands its presence in Albury-Wodonga by the end of the month.
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Riverina Fresh milk will be distributed more widely on the Border by Coon’s Dairy in the wake of the imminent closure of Murray Goulburn's milk processing factory.
Company chief executive Rob Collier revealed on Friday the existing product had been taken to a flavour house of choice in recent weeks with the view to creating a similar tasting drink.
Consumer testing will include the use of blind-folds.
“They are confident they can replicate it,” he said.
“We've already done one lot and it is probably 90 per cent there with more tweaks in the next week or so.”
Mr Collier said no name or labelling had been settled on for the replacement drink, but hoped the word Kiewa could still be used.
“We've got two iced coffees in our range presently and they are popular in the Riverina,” he said.
“We will call it whatever we are allowed to call it that tells people it is very similar in taste.”
Coon’s has distributed the Kiewa Country milk brand for 32 years to businesses in Albury-Wodonga and surrounds and had an existing relationship with Riverina Fresh for small quantities of its product.
Riverina Fresh will become Coon's main supplier when Murray Goulburn ceases production at Tangambalanga.
“When I was faced with the decision of sourcing a new milk, my main focus was to find a like for like product range that is produced as locally as possible,” dairy owner Linda Coon said.
“Riverina Fresh meets all those requirements, plus more.
“It’s a great quality, award-winning milk that is produced only an hour away.
“It’s also great that the guys at Riverina Fresh are working towards giving our customers the same iced coffee taste the locals love.”
Woolworths has also expanded expand its range of Riverina Fresh milk to include Albury-Wodonga, Wangaratta, Benalla, Corowa, Bright and Yarrawonga.
Coon’s Dairy will transition to supplying 100 per cent Riverina Fresh milk to Woolworths supermarkets and various shops and cafes in Albury-Wodonga and surrounds during the next three weeks.
“We knew we needed to do the right thing and have a local distributor supplying a local milk to our stores to ensure consumers still have the choice to support local,” Woolworths dairy category manager Trent Debnam said.
Riverina Fresh is an Australian-owned business with milk sourced exclusively from dedicated farms in the Riverina from Tumut to Finley and been bottled daily in Wagga for 90 years.
