Food News

Myrtleford Butter Factory reopens as King Valley Dairy

After a 12-month hiatus, one of Australia's best butter producers is back in action.

By Larissa Dubecki
King Valley Dairy's butter
Naomi Ingleton has been craving her own product since she put her award-winning butter making on hiatus with the closure of the Myrtleford Butter Factory 12 months ago. Reborn last week as the King Valley Dairy, the naturally cultured small batch butter - deemed by many chefs to be Australia's best - is finally back, with bigger premises meaning bigger output and a larger product line.
"The butter is delicious. It tastes even better than in Myrtleford," says Ingleton. "Maybe it's because I haven't had it for 12 months. We've had to go out and find other butter, which was a trial."
Relocating her business 50 kilometers away to the King Valley was a "mission" but Ingleton believes she's found the perfect site in the historic butter factory in the small town of Moyhu. Repurposed after it closed in the 1950s as a truck maintenance depot and a winery headquarters, the factory needed a complete makeover but a year's worth of renovation pain means Ingleton can now produce a broader product line including ricotta and other buttermilk products currently being developed. The factory also has room for a café, tasting room and smokehouse, but most importantly, it can produce in half a day what Ingleton could achieve in a week - and a good one at that - in Myrtleford: "It makes us the largest premium, naturally cultured butter producer in Australia, and it means that finally we can keep up with customer demand."
A boon for tiny Moyhu, population 400, with the creation of 10 full-time jobs, Ingleton plans to grow the King Valley Dairy into a tourist magnet with classes in butter making and bee keeping, a permaculture garden and orchard. "Six and a half acres, right on the King River… it's absolutely beautiful." 
King Valley Dairy, 107 Moyhu-Meadow Creek Road, Moyhu, 1300 319 766, kingvalleydairy.com.au