Western Australian-based Brownes Dairy has become the first dairy company from the country to establish production operations in the UK.
The supplier – Australia’s oldest dairy company, established in 1886 – has acquired a manufacturing facility in Berkshire. The site was previously owned by the co-packer Brownes used to bring its Hunt & Brew premium ready-to-drink coffee range to the UK in 2024.
The dairy giant said the move had been driven by the “phenomenal success” of Hunt & Brew in the UK, with the brand now stocked in more than 400 Tesco stores nationwide. Hunt & Breww is now gearing up to launch its Australia cold brew coffee product, made with Australian-grown beans, over the coming weeks.
Brownes uses British milk for its UK product lineup, which currently consists of Brazil Coffee and Colombia Coffee SKUs.
Priced at £3.45 in Tesco main estate stores and £3.95 in Tesco Express, the supplier’s range is positioned above the broader category where competing products typically range between £1 and £3.
Alongside its soon-to-launch Australia SKU, the business said the acquisition would also allow it to expand production, hinting it could consider other products within the Brownes portfolio, with the company a leading supplier of milk, flavoured milk, yoghurts and cheese in its homeland.
“This is a watershed moment for Brownes Dairy and a powerful vote of confidence in the Hunt & Brew brand,” said CEO Natalie Sarich-Dayton.
“We are incredibly proud to be flying the flag for Australian dairy, combining our coffee expertise with fresh British milk to create a product that is truly unique.”
The new Australia coffee line, meanwhile, would “set a new standard for what consumers should expect from the category”, she added.
And with the UK government considering an expansion of its soft drinks Industry levy to cover more beverages, Hunt & Brew was “already ahead of the curve”, Brownes said.
Its cold brew coffee, made with fresh British milk and no added sugar, “naturally sits well below the proposed 4g-5g per 100ml threshold, positioning it as a healthier, premium alternative for UK consumers”.
While Brownes’ products for the UK are manufactured in the UK, its acquisition comes as imports of food products, particularly meat, from Australia are on the rise. Imports of beef were up 125% year on year in the first six months of 2025 [HMRC/Trade Data Monitor], with the likes of Morrisons and Sainsbury’s launching Aussie lines.
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