A popular Australian cheese and yoghurt brand has been saved from closure and is back in local hands after its Chinese owner shut down the business.
Daily Mail Australia understands the Margaret River Dairy Company based in Metricup, an hour south of Perth, has been bought by a local dairy operation and is preparing to re-start production, though products are not yet available.
The much-loved items disappeared from supermarket shelves last year after former owner Sydney-based Manassen Foods, which in turn is owned by Chinese company Bright Foods, closed down the business.
The Shanghai-based conglomerate had been trying to sell the company since 2021 but Manassen announced its doors would close in September 2023 after a buyer was unable to be found.
The company’s shop at Metricup was a popular tourist destination and its closure on October 1 by the overseas owner was a blow that left locals furious.
The Margaret River Dairy Company has been saved and is back in Australian hands with products to reappear on Australian supermarket shelves late this year
The Margaret River Dairy company has been in operation in one form or another for more than half a century.
Its origins can be traced back to a group of Italian artisan cheesemakers who set out to make farmhouse and ricotta cheeses in suburban Perth in 1966.
After moving to countryside outside the city the operation known as Fonti Farm Cheeses merged with a nearby boutique cheese factory in 1994 known as the Margaret River Cheese Company.
When Manassen bought the business in 2000 they renamed it to the Margaret River Dairy Company.
Eleven years later Manassen was acquired by Bright Foods.
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