Statewide milk shortage potential after processing plant failure

Tasmania could face a temporary milk shortage as one of the state’s largest dairy processing facilities is producing around one-third of the milk it usually produces.

The Bega Group’s Lenah Valley facility has been operating at a limited capacity since Monday due to a serious mechanical failure.

“Bega Group can confirm temporary production delays at our site in Lenah Valley,” a company spokesperson said.

“The Tasmanian market may see stock shortages of regular and flavoured milk on shelves for a short period of time; however, our team is actively working to return to full capacity as quickly as possible.”

The factory produces dairy products for brands such as Pura, Betta and Pyengana.

Australian Workers Union Tasmania assistant secretary Robert Flanagan said it is anticipated the facility will resume normal production on Thursday.

“Normally the factory produces somewhere in the order of 90,000 to 120,000 litres of plain milk a day and that’s down significantly,” Mr Flanagan said.

“We know that they are producing about 2000 litres an hour during a 16-hour day.

“The repairs required specialist crews to be flown in to do that work, so the normal workforce has been sent home on full pay while the repairs are being done.”

Mr Flanagan said he was unsure if the factory had stopped bringing in milk from dairy farms.

“That comes down to the storage capacity of the plant.

“But it’s been down now for all of Monday, Tuesday and today, so you would imagine there has been some impact on milk suppliers.”

Despite the likelihood of temporary stock shortages, Mr Flanagan said there was no need for the public to panic-buy milk from Tasmanian supermarkets.

“With those volumes, what’s happening at the moment and what retailers appear to have in their stock, there’s no need to go out and buy 10 litres of milk.

“You should be fine to get through the next day or two.”