The site in Camperdown is owned by Melbourne developer Polis. Photo: Supplied

Camperdown dairy on the market

Larry Schlesinger|Apr 17, 2019

A Victorian dairy that was once planned as the centrepiece of a $500 million vertically integrated infant formula and milk powder empire has been listed for sale.

The Camperdown Cheese and Butter Factory at 325 Manifold Road has been owned by Mary Bevilacqua since 2003 when she acquired the six-hectare property for $850,000.

In 2014 Ms Bevilacqua’s Aqueous Corporation struck a deal to sell the historic dairy to miner-turned-dairy entrepreneur Bill McDonald’s Camperdown Dairy International (CDI) for $5.6 million.

At the time CDI planned to develop the Camperdown property into a $200 million infant formula and milk powder facility as part of plans to create a $500 million dairy empire on the border of Victoria and South Australia.

However, the milk deal turned sour and the production facility was never developed. In 2016 Mr McDonald sold out of his majority stake in Camperdown Dairy International and returned to coal mining.

Camperdown Dairy was placed in administration in July 2017 owing $60 million, one of a number of milk powder ventures that collapsed due to a global oversupply of dairy. The 2800-hectare Frances Farm Portfolio that was due to house the 40,000-strong CDI herd was sold to the Hawkins family for $13 million in August 2017.

Aqueous Corporation has retained ownership of the site, which is expected to sell for more than $5 million with CBRE’s head of agribusiness Danny Thomas handling the sale. The original permit for a powdered milk and infant formula production facility was renewed late last year.

Julian Bevilacqua, a spokesman for the family’s development business Polis, said: “We are excited to be bringing this world-class construction ready manufacturing facility to market and the opportunity it creates to deliver infant formula on a global scale.”

Mr Thomas said: “This is the first time in the history of the Australian dairy industry that a property with a planning permit for a state-of-the-art milk powder facility has been offered.”