VAN Dairy has chosen Qantas Freight to be its exclusive airfreight partner for transporting fresh Tasmanian milk to the Chinese city of Ningbo.

Qantas Freight will carry more than 50,000 litres of milk on a Boeing 767-300 Freighter from Hobart to Ningbo, subject to government and regulatory approval. The service will be weekly to start with, with the view of increasing the frequency to meet demand.

Qantas Freight executive manager, Alison Webster says: “Over the past three years Qantas Freight has developed particularly strong capabilities in dairy export which, with its short-life, requires close collaboration to ensure on time delivery and quality control throughout the supply chain.”

“We’re really pleased to partner with VAN Dairy to help meet the booming demand for fresh Tasmanian milk in China – it’s the ultimate milk run.”

VAN Dairy is owned by Moon Lake Investments, and managing director Sean Shwe says: “Establishing this trade bridge is an exciting venture for our dairy company, VAN Dairy who produce VAN milk, and opens the door for access for other Tasmanian producers of fresh, perishables such as seafood, fruit and vegetables to air freight their produce on this direct flight to China.”

When the produce reaches Ningbo, local distributors will truck the milk to supermarkets and convenience stores in Ningbo and Beijing. Moon Lake has chosen the two cities as initial distribution areas with the plan to extend its reach to other cities including Shanghai and Hangzhou.