When Tasmanian dairy farmer Darren Fielding is asked about his profession, he enjoys sharing a charming exaggeration: he supplies two squares in every family block of Cadbury chocolate.
"It's probably a lie, but it doesn't matter," he laughs. The reality is still impressive. Fielding's farm produces about 2.5 million litres of milk annually, representing approximately 2 per cent of Cadbury's total milk supply in Australia.
A Three-Generation Dairy Legacy
Fielding operates from South Riana in Tasmania's north, where most of the chocolate company's 50 dairy farms are located. Collectively, these farms supply around 300,000 litres of milk that undergoes processing at Cadbury's Burnie facility before travelling to the Claremont factory. There, it's transformed into the iconic cocoa and sugar crumb that forms the basis of the chocolate found on supermarket shelves nationwide.
As a third-generation Cadbury supplier, Fielding takes pride in providing what Australians have long recognised as "a glass and half of full cream dairy milk" in every block. His father, Robbie, now 80, began milking cows before and after school as a young boy and still assists Darren and his brother Michael with the farm operations.
Technology and Sustainability on the Farm
The farming methods have evolved significantly across generations. The Fielding farm now uses a robotic dairy system, meaning Darren spends time at the dairy without manually milking the cows.
"Dad taught me pretty much everything, until we got the technology," Darren explains. "He doesn't understand it one little bit, but he knows the milk comes out the other end, so he loves it."
Sustainability has become increasingly important in the farm's daily management. The Fielding operation is one of 10 Cadbury suppliers actively measuring on-farm emissions and creating reduction strategies for the short, medium and long term.
Weather Challenges and Family Commitment
Dairy farming presents considerable challenges, particularly during Tasmania's famously cold winters. Farmers in the northern region have endured constant rain over the past two months, and last year temperatures dropped to an unprecedented minus five degrees.
"I've never ever seen that before – normally you get a minus one or a minus two," Fielding noted. While the cows tolerate frost well, it damages the grass and forces them to expend extra energy staying warm.
Despite weather hardships and the demands of running a busy farm, Fielding wouldn't choose any other life. He hopes to eventually pass down the family's 650-acre farm and its 350 Friesian cows to the next generation.
"Cadbury has always been really good to their farmers, and that's why farmers don't tend to leave them very often," he said. "They like to be a family type company, even though they're a big company."
When it comes to taste preference, there's no debate in the Fielding household. "Is there any other chocolate?" Fielding quipped. "Compared to the others, it's better chocolate, and that's probably not on taste alone, let alone the fact that it's our milk, but I've always liked it better."
