Oak (flavoured milk)
Australian flavoured milk brand owned by Lactalis.
Oak (written as OAK) is an Australian brand of pasteurised flavoured milk and coffee milk, now owned by the French company Lactalis. It began in 1967 in New South Wales as the dairy brand of the Raymond Terrace Co-operative, later the Hunter Valley Co-operative Dairy Company. The flavoured milk arrived in Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria in 1998, and from 2012 to 2024, Oak was the naming rights sponsor of the Penrith Panthers, a National Rugby League team.
Quick Facts
- Manufacturer
- Lactalis
- Origin
- Australia
- Introduced
- 1967
- Related
- Farmer's Union Iced Coffee
- Dare (flavoured milk)
- Boss Coffee
- Region
- New South Wales
Facts from the source article.
History
Before 1967 and into the 1980s, Oak served as a general-purpose brand for the Hunter Valley Co-operative Dairy Company, applied to standard dairy output including fresh milk and dried milk products such as milk powder for storage and surplus management. It functioned primarily as an umbrella label for co-operative dairy processing. In 1967, the introduction of Oak Iced Coffee shifted the brand into the flavoured milk market, positioning it as a competitor in Australia's ready-to-drink dairy sector alongside products like Farmers Union Iced Coffee.
Muswellbrook Oak Factory
The Muswellbrook Oak Factory, in the Upper Hunter suburb of Muswellbrook, New South Wales, was built by the Hunter Valley Co-operative Dairy Company from 1945 to 1953. It handled rising milk volumes from area farms, with equipment for treating milk, drying, making butter, and refrigeration. This made it a major local industrial site that helped manage extra seasonal milk, including by producing milk powder. Following the 1967 debut of Oak flavoured milk, the plant became linked to Oak items sold across New South Wales and eventually nationwide. Dairy work ended in June 1994 after changes in the co-operative sector. The site then housed wine and spirits production until it was abandoned in 2019. In 2025, work began to turn the old factory into a rum distillery.
More in Dairy Products Companies of Australia
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced