By Gayani Perera

Murray Goulburn is the largest producer and manufacturer of milk in Australia and handles around 35% of Australia's total milk production.. Murray Goulburn is situated in Victoria where it controls over 65% of the milk market in that state. The Sunday Times Freehold Supplement spoke to Mr. Mal Beniston, the General Manager International Sales and Marketing of Murray Goulburn to find out more about the company and their relationship with Maliban. Mr. Beniston has been in the dairy industry for over 30 years and has experience in selling business to business dairy ingredients in the USA, Europe, Japan and other counties around the world.

Winners of All Island Best Distributor contest Miss Kumari Wijewardhane. (Maliban Milk Horana distributor)

"The farmers and their families are the owners of Murray Goulburn. We are presently comprised of around 2600 farmer suppliers, ranging from small family units to larger commercial scale units. Murray Goulburn currently exports over 350,000 tons of dairy products to 78 countries worldwide. Our main markets are located in North Asia, South East Asia, Americas, Europe and the Asian region", says Mr. Beniston.

Murray Goulburn always ensures that it differentiates itself on quality. Quality to Murray Goulburn starts from its farmer and ends with the final consumer. Farmer communities have been taught to adapt to a strict world class quality systems known as "Milk Care", which includes ensuring that the farm and its animals are well managed.

As soon as the milk is taken from the cow it is kept under proper temperatures to ensure that it keeps its freshness. A special fleet of milk collection tankers are used to transport the milk from the farms to the factories. These tankers are environmentally friendly and currently run on natural gas. Once the milk is transported to the Murray Goulburn factories they are kept under special low temperatures.

All Murray Goulburn milk plants have been authorized with HACCP certifications, ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certifications. A special quality culture is maintained in every Murray Goulburn manufacturing plant and in addition to this the company owns state-of-the-art warehouses which always adopt a strong emphasis on quality.

Mr. Mal Beniston, the General Manager International Sales and Marketing of Murray Goulburn	Nalinda Jayamanne Head of Sales and Marketing Maliban

"We have identified Sri Lanka as a very important market which has a good potential. Our relationship with Maliban is very strong. Strategically we align ourselves with very strong regional brand owners such as Maliban Milk, which automatically opens us to a strong and secure market and in turn Murray Goulburn helps these companies to grow their businesses.

With peace now in Sri Lanka I see a very bright future for our partnership with Maliban. The Maliban team is young and dynamic, and we hope to grow and prosper in our business relations with them in the times ahead", further stated Mr. Beniston.
Speaking on the nutritional values of Maliban Milk powder compared to natural milk Mr. Beniston said, that Maliban Milk has all the essential vitamins, amino acids, proteins and minerals in their natural form, which is the best form of nutrition for people of all ages.

Speaking about the challenges in the future Mr. Mal stated that "there is a possibility of some price escalation in the future mainly due to two factors, the demand overshooting the supplies and overall cost increase in the total supply chain"

In conclusion Mr. Beniston said, "Murray Goulburn is always loyal towards its consumers and in the future we hope to market other dairy products through Maliban, which will directly cater to the food habits of the Sri Lankan consumer. Murray Goulburn specializes in a range of protein ingredients for the sports savvy individual, we also offer a range of high protein nutritional foods for the elderly which we hope to introduce to the Sri Lankan market through Maliban. We at Murray Goulburn consider the Maliban brand as one that has won the hearts and confidence of the Sri Lankan people and together we hope to introduce many more products that will further endorse customer confidence whilst catering to their needs."