In 2004, Jeff Whittaker did not know handmilking three British Alpine does would grow to become Shady Grove Dairy, a commercial goat dairy enterprise supplying high-quality goat milk to the surrounding regions.
For 11 years, Mr Whittaker, along with wife Mary and son Darcy, milked a small goat herd on their Macclesfield property for their own use, with the decision to sell commercially coming in 2015.
"People were always asking us if they could buy some milk off us, and we always had to say that we weren't licensed to sell milk," he said.
"We were approached by a cheesemaker who was interested in getting a local supplier in the Adelaide Hills on a fairly small scale, and that suited us, so that was a good chance to try it out."
Repurposing was key when turning commercial, with an old cow dairy on the property revamped to be a 12-stand goat milking parlour in 2015, and a shipping container that had been a milk processing plant in Vic brought to the property and tinkered with to be suitable for goat milk processing.
The processing plant, now complete with a newly-installed small pasteurising vat capable of processing 200 litres to 400L a day, was certified in October 2018, with milk processing officially beginning the following month.
We're at the point where people are starting to talk, and it's starting to tick along.
- JEFF WHITTAKER
"There's a lot of regulation and a lot of getting the processes formalised, written up and accepted by the Dairy Authority, who were very helpful, but it does take time and energy," Mr Whittaker said.
Upon deciding to sell on a commercial scale, Mr Whittaker has spent the past few years breeding to increase the herd size - made up of British Alpines and Saanens, as well as some crossbreds - from about 30 does a couple of seasons ago up to the present size of 120 animals, comprising milkers, young stock and bucks.
"We try to use good milking breed bucks as our sires so we're hopefully heading in the right direction," he said.
"Most have come locally in SA from stud breeders."
Mr Whittaker hoped to increase the number of milkers in order to meet supply demands, aiming to have 80 to 100 milkers by mid-2020.
"At the moment 15 to 20 goats in the herd are being milked, most of the rest of them are either growing on, or mated up and kidding later on, but over the next few months as we hit kidding time (the number of milkers) will grow fairly rapidly," he said.
Mr Whittaker said female kids were brought into the milking herd, while males were grown for about 18 months and then mainly sold for meat, with some being distributed as pets.
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Nearly 20 shops across Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula regions stock the Shady Grove Dairy milk, and Mr Whittaker said the distribution list was continuing to grow.
"Previously distribution has been to people I've approached, or people I know of or who have a history of being involved with selling goat milk, and now suddenly I'm getting phone calls from people saying 'I've heard you've got some goat milk, where can I get some?'" he said.
"We're at the point where people are starting to talk, and it's starting to tick along."
PRODUCT BENEFITS CONTINUE TO FLY UNDER THE RADAR
SHADY Grove Dairy owner Jeff Whittaker believed goat milk was underrated, with there being a lot to love about the product.
"In lots of cases in Australia, goat milk is viewed as a downgrade product, but in lots of parts of the world it's the premium drinking milk," he said.
"It's easier to digest and so it's suitable for some people that can't stomach cow's milk," he said.
Mr Whittaker said goat milk was "basically naturally homogenised".
"The cream doesn't tend to rise to the top as quickly, and it tastes quite a lot cleaner because you don't end up with that creamy taste in your mouth afterwards.
"People are generally quite surprised that it tastes clean and nice and sweet, because they're picturing an old smelly buck when they drink it," he said.
We just want to get the word out to people that goat milk is available.
- JEFF WHITTAKER
Mr Whittaker said Shady Grove Dairy strove to deliver a high end product, and had received positive comments from consumers so far.
"People who are drinking the milk are giving us pretty good feedback, that it's better than other products on the market around the place," he said.
"We just want to get the word out to people that goat milk is available, so they may as well give it a go."
Mr Whittaker said there was also potential for Shady Grove Dairy to expand into supplying yoghurts and cheeses in the near future.