New microfiltration technology delivers longer lasting fresh milk to Victoria

Pasteurisation removes 90% of the bacteria naturally present in regular milk.  Although the remaining bacteria is not harmful, it can impact the taste and shelf life of milk, turning it sour and causing it to go ‘off’. 

While also pasteurised, Anchor goes one step further and uses microfiltration to remove 99 per cent of the naturally occurring bacteria in milk.  With virtually all of the bacteria removed, Anchor milk stays fresh right until the last drop.

Anchor does this by pushing the milk through a special ceramic filter, creating a beautifully fresh tasting finished product that has an extended shelf life of 21 days.  Normal pasteurised milk has a shelf life of 15 days. 

No additives or preservative are added to Anchor milk to achieve this longer shelf life.  In fact, it’s all about what’s removed to create the very finest filtered milk.

While Anchor offers a similar nutritional profile to other supermarket milks, the big difference is in its taste.

“Anchor is clean on the palette and has distinctly no after-taste – even after a week or two in the fridge,” said Kiril Simonovski, Director of Marketing at Fonterra.  “It really is beautiful milk and we think it offers consumers the best of both worlds through its superior taste profile, combined with the convenience of an extended shelf life.

“Milk has become something of a commodity in Australia, but we saw the opportunity to raise the bar with Anchor and believe microfiltration will be a game-changer, with Victoria our first market.

“We know consumers shop by use-by-date because they want the freshest product.  We think Anchor will appeal to discerning households looking for a premium product with a recommended retail price of only slightly more than regular milk,” Simonovski added.

CSIRO Food Manufacturing Leader, Darren Gardiner, said microfiltration had been received well in other parts of the world.

“While we’re all familiar with the concept of filtration when it comes to water and coffee, the additional step of filtering out the unwanted bacteria in milk before pasteurisation is a major development in fresh milk,” Gardiner said. 

“We congratulate Anchor on making this investment and bringing this innovation to milk in Australia, and hope they experience the same success as companies in the UK and Canada.”

Anchor Milk is sourced exclusively from a small number of farms in Western Victoria, located close to where the milk is processed.  These farmers deliver high quality milk all year round.

Five cents from the sale of every bottle of Anchor milk and cream sold will be invested back into sustainable dairy farming through the Anchor Dairy Fund (capped at $250k per annum).

Anchor Finely Filtered Milk range is now available from Woolworths’ supermarkets across Victoria only. For more information visit www.anchordairy.com.au.