Little Big Dairy: Company hits 10 years, celebrates with new release

It was those words, uttered by Steve Chesworth, that turned a little dairy farm into one of Dubbo's most successful, well-known businesses.

Emma Elliott, the director and founder of Little Big Dairy, remembers the moment back in 2012 when she returned home from university to her struggling family farm.

"The dairy industry was in crisis at the time with some of the milk from our farm being sold for far less than the cost of production," she said.

But her mum, Erika, and dad were "big ones for thinking outside the box and bucking the trend" so when her dad said they had better build a factory, the family started running the numbers.

In September 2013, the farm factory was completed.

Fast forward 10 years and Ms Elliott said Little Big Dairy has close to 50 employees. Milk and cream from the Dubbo company are sent to more than 1000 wholesale customers across NSW and the ACT.

She attributes the success of their milk to the philosophy that the little things add up to something big.

"It's truly the unadulterated nature of such an amazing product that is produced here on the farm by my dad, his team and of course, the herd - the healthy, happy cows and the beautiful feed they eat," Ms Elliott said.

"Because of this quality of raw milk, we do really minimal heat treatment in pasteurisation in our factory. And keeping it super cold. The colder you keep your milk the better it will taste and the longer it will last."

The company aims to purchase all materials and labour from within the Central West. All of the fodder for the cows is produced on the farm, or it comes from a 200 kilometre radius.

Members of the family continue to work across different roles in the supply chain.

Ms Elliott said not having someone trying to do it all was what made it successful.

"With love and trust we all support each other and work to our strengths and passions. And of course when owners work in businesses with their teams, it's amazing," she said.

"Working each day on the ground helps all the little things get the attention they need."

To celebrate 10 years in business, Little Big Dairy released strawberry milk, with two per cent of sales going to Ovarian Cancer Australia.

In the coming weeks, the company also plans to introduced freshly churned butter to its range.

Ms Elliott said the machine had been installed and they were beginning the "official churning and perfecting of the recipe".

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