I’m on a farm track in south-west Victoria, and around me it’s all gently rolling country and very lush green pastures. As you might have guessed, this is prime dairy country and I’m here to talk with third generation dairy farmer Simon Schulz. Simon has progressively taken over management of the family business, Schulz Organic Dairy, which incidentally is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Simon’s also progressively introduced innovations that have enabled the business to tackle its environmental impacts while also expanding its product range and improving its engagement with customers.
So, let’s talk to Simon about what he’s been doing…
Simon Schulz:
The land has stayed roughly the same for the for the last 15 or so years, we’ve been running about a thousand acres, and we actually had nearly 600 cattle. But when I took on the farm, two years ago, we reduced cow numbers with a focus really on more regenerative agriculture and less pressure on the farm. Not that it was highly intensive or highly pressurised anyway. But yeah, the focus was really to sustain the milk supply through to the factory through cheese making and butter making and all these new products that we keep dreaming up [of] to make sure that we got a good milk supply all year round for them.
Jackie:
You’ve had a bit of a head start in terms of sustainability. How have organic farming principles translated into your land management here?
Simon:
You’re absolutely right. I’ve been born and bred on a biodynamic and organic farm 50 years. Our organic principles haven’t changed and aren’t really intending to change, it’s probably our management practices will change. We still don’t believe in synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, GMO seeds, and so forth. It’s just really our management practices on what we do under the soil, what species we put into the soil, or how we manage sustainably the soil and the microbes and the environment we live in, is probably the change the big change what we see in the last five years and particularly the next 50 years.
The management practices that I was talking about really is focusing less on monoculture less on just the traditional rye and clover grasses that my grandfather and my father would have predominantly been putting in and not doing summer crops that are just a simple single species, really focusing on multispecies. So we’re looking at when you’ve got diversity, you’ve got deeper rooting with shallow rooting product, plants, you’ve got opening up the soil structure, hopefully absorbing more moisture. If you can have more moisture, particularly in our drier climates, your grasses can stay greener, your pastures can stay greener for longer, therefore feeding the cows fresh grass, green grass, which is far cheaper than boarding feed.
Jackie:
And happier cows?
Simon:
Happier cows. Well, the aim with the multispecies is really if they’ve got a palette of a whole range of different spaces that can they munch on, they might choose things that suit them at a particular time, therefore their health is better. And if their health is optimum, then they’re happier animal.
Jackie:
And in terms of the way you’ve been operating the manufacturing business, you took on a particular sustainability challenge, didn’t you? Can you talk about what it was, why you decided to go down that route and what you’ve been doing?
Simon:
So the project that you you’re referring to is our milk in glass, which we launched four or five years ago now. The catalyst I suppose was that we were at that point in time 45 years in the organic dairy farming and biodynamic farming. Our sustainable credentials were existing on our farm or existing in the pasture and the animals, but not in our manufacturing. We were still contributing significantly to single use plastics and our energy cycles there. And so the milk in glass was something that we felt allowed a circular economy to establish with the returnable glass bottles. It’s all about these these little circular economies, circular cycles that we want to establish. And so the glass bottle campaign that we put forward has been a huge success. You know, we’re the first in the country to do it since the 50s, or the 60s. And it’s really allowed us to consider our environmental impact on the manufacturing side of things, not just the farming.
Jackie:
And how did you go about that? It was pretty challenging to set up?
Simon:
It was it was certainly challenging! There was nothing in Australia, no one in Australia that did it, and certainly not on a commercial scale. So we had to travel. I travelled to the US initially and did some research in New Zealand and in Europe, to see what was needed and what infrastructure was needed there and what learnings I could take from those markets. I came back and said, well, and thought to my team, that’s pretty expensive. And you know, it’s something new to Australia, will Australians buy it? And so those two things, expensive equipment, new to Australia, and will consumers want to purchase milk in glass at a higher cost.
A crowdfunding campaign was the easy way to a) get infrastructure money for it, also b) garner the consumers’ interest in it. And both of those were solved by that that one, that one funding opportunity with crowdfunding.
Jackie:
Yes. So tell us about how you went about the crowdfunding…?
Simon:
So our first initial foray was to, before we did the crowdfunding was to offer, just through our farmers markets, a milk in glass option. It was a round bottle off the shelf, single use bottle, but we managed to return it and reuse it and manually wash it. So that was the first stage, getting a bit of interest there. The whole, the whole process was a whirlwind at the time. So we really, we really needed to get a broader sense, not just from our loyal Farmers Market customers, we wanted to get a broader sense from a broader market, perhaps people that weren’t Schulz customers, too, to begin with, to see if they’d look at purchasing it. And that’s where the crowdfunding really kicked in.
You know, a huge emphasis was put on the marketing side of it, because that’s we really wanted to bring consumers along with it. And that’s the whole point, I think of crowdfunding is to bring, bring the consumers along, along with you to on the journey that you’re on. Because that, that’s something that we’ve always tried to do really well is tried to have that connection with our consumers with our, with our friends, who drink our milk and eat our yogurts, which is why we still do the farmers markets today is to continue that connection with them. So that when we have new products and new ideas and new concepts, we can go directly to them and ask them are they interested in, in what we’re what we’re offering or not?
Which y’know leads into what we’re doing now, which is our milk in a keg and self-serve system, which is really just an extension of our milk in glass. But shortening that loop of the returnable glasses and the kegs themselves shortening that loop. Making it more efficient.
Jackie:
Tell us about the milk in kegs because you’ve only just started that, is that right?
Simon:
A bit like our glass, we actually had been doing a keg pre-2020. But when the pandemic come along, we sort of really pushed it aside. So it was a little bit too difficult at that point in time. Food service was really suffering and the keg system was really focused mostly on food service, not retail. But then a partnership with The Udder Way was introduced to us by one of our retail customers who has been a long term supporter of Schulz. And I was about to go on some long overdue leave. And I said, within about 5-10 minutes of meeting the guys there from The Udder Way. Yes, I’ll do it. I’ll see you in three months and we’ll launch! ( laughs).
Jackie:
So tell it tell me a bit about The Udder Way and how that whole system works. What happens? A consumer comes in and buys milk in a in a glass bottle. And then what’s the expectation? What happens?
Simon:
Yeah, so I suppose the first point is the limitation with our glass bottles is that there’s quite a long loop. So we fill a glass bottle, it goes through our distribution centre all the way to Melbourne to the retailer. It sits on the shelf there, the consumer drinks the milk, brings it back. And then it comes all the way back to Timboon. And so it’s quite a long cycle.
With this cycle, we essentially have that relationship with the retailer and the cafe. And basically a keg we’re delivering to the retailer two or three times a week, and so that keg’s a really fast interchange between us. And then refilling and decanting and refilling again and washing. Whereas the consumer can doesn’t have to bring in a Schulz bottle, they can bring in a stainless bottle, they can bring in I hopefully not a plastic bottle, but they can bring in a plastic bottle, or they can fill a two litre bottle that can fill a three litre bottle, it doesn’t have to be a one litre bottle. And it gives consumers a greater choice or less, less points of restriction of on purchasing by giving them the opportunity to fill whatever vessel they want, as long as they wash it themselves.
Jackie:
And so in the shop, what the consumer will see is simply a little stand with a with a tap. Is that right?
Simon Schulz:
That’s right, yeah, it’d be an under bench fridge with a tap coming out bit like a beer keg, a beer dispenser of the pub. And they will be able to decant directly themselves.
Jackie:
And with both the milk on tap and the and the milk in glass, how has that enhanced your sales?
Simon:
We were a little worried, I guess when we when we first did the milk in glass and the same concern was with the kegs, was would this product cannibalise our other lines, our plastics? And we kind of in part, we’d kind of hoped that would. We would kind of hope that people would make that transition, and therefore we could invest in more automation to make it more efficient for us. But it hasn’t, it’s really opened up our brand to new consumers, people who are really conscious on not just a sustainable farm like all our consumers are, but also sustainable business practices in in plastic use packaging use and single use and the carbon footprint that each business has.
Jackie:
How much plastic do you estimate that you’ve saved over this time?
Simon:
I haven’t done the calculation on the kegs. Yet. It’s only been a handful of months. But we’ve done over 30 tonne of plastic just in the milk in glass.
Jackie:
So over this time, what would you see as being your biggest challenge in increasing your sustainability on the farm and in the manufacturing facility?
Simon:
The biggest limitation I think is always capital, which is why we did our crowd funding. Capital is, agriculture is exceptionally expensive to get into. And is exceptionally expensive to do change quickly. I’m two years into my tenure on the farm as the farm owner now, once my father retired, and while we’ve done some change and its expensive change, it’s really a, you know, a 10-year plan to really cement the dreams that we’ve had in the last few years to really realise them in in five to 10 years’ time. But we’re making leaps and strides.
My father came across the farm the other day, and he said, Simon has never been so much grass on this farm. You know, and that’s a great encouragement to say, well, you know, I’m doing the right thing. You know, we’ve lengthened our rotations, we’re doing multi species, we’re changing our planting setups, we’re doing honey, we’re bringing in the bees and the native bees and European bees and so forth. So it’s all this diversity is is fine to see but it takes time and it is expensive.
Jackie:
And if you could go back to when you first started all this what advice would you give yourself?
Simon:
For me, it’s actually about team, about people. At the end of the day, we’re doing this for our relationships. So be it our family relationships, our relationships with our consumers, our relationships with our staff, getting the right people around you in any business and having the right people that will lift you up and will drive you forward and will enable you to do the things you want to do. If I was saying that to a younger Simon I would say, make sure you always choose the right person, don’t just don’t just put someone in a role because you need them there. Choose the right person.
Jackie:
And just on that, can you tell me a little bit more about the way in which your sustainability ethos extends to your your people?
Simon:
Culture is king for us. And that’s something that I believe society is expecting now is good culture, good work life. One thing that I’ve really tried to bring, especially in the last five or six years, as I’ve matured, as a business owner, is to work on work life balance. You know, we get into business to be financially independent, to have to be able to choose as a business owner to choose what you want to do. But we often don’t have our own work life balance. And so that’s been a critical focus the last five years for me and my team.
So most of my team will have a long weekend, every single weekend, we don’t do shift work, we don’t work over the weekends in the factory. The farm’s a different story, it needs to run 24/7, but we make sure our team take time off. And if and when we recognise that we’re not doing that, we know that we need to change, change our systems to allow that. So having a work life balance and building that culture and that that pride in what they do is critical. And that comes also back to choosing the right people choosing people. It’s um, it’s really that choosing the right people and creating that culture where people enjoy the, enjoy their work, and have that work life balance so they can go home and have their own passions and interests.
Jackie:
And most of your staff, you were saying, work a four day week, is that right? Has that contributed to being able to retain and keep your staff over time?
Simon:
I’d like to think so. But the last last three years have been incredibly difficult. So yeah, we’ve certainly struggled like everyone has the last few years but we think we have the right culture and we have the right work life balance that does attract good people that do want to stick around.
Jackie:
Great. Thanks so much for your time, Simon.
Simon:
My pleasure.
As we tour the farm, Simon tells me about the trial-and-error process for establishing new pasture species and amping up the focus on regenerative agriculture. He’s also got plans to build a new, expanded dairy factory which will be powered by renewable energy. It’ll enable Schulz to better accommodate its growing product range. And he’s also working on the other emissions problem – methane from the cows. He’s connected with the local campus of Deakin University with the aim of being part of a trial of seaweed supplement to reduce cattle methane emissions.
It’s clear that each little step is taking him closer to his goal of a more sustainable future – for the business, his family and community and the planet.