11/09/2026
As part of the wider ProviCo business, we’re proud to share ProviCo’s recent feature in The Weekly Times, highlighting its $90 million investment in the Dennington facility and vision for the future of Australian dairy protein manufacturing.
An innovative, market-leading dairy processor is breathing new life into a 100-year-old factory at Dennington, transforming skim milk into some of the world’s highest-value protein ingredients to meet surging global demand.
Established in 1999 by Andrew Paterson, who remains active in the business as Commercial Director, ProviCo is an integrated dairy business specialising in the manufacture of bio-proteins used widely in pharmaceutical, sports and clinical nutrition products.
The company bought the former Fonterra and Nestle manufacturing site west of Warrnambool in 2020 and is investing $90m in a three-stage project that will enable it to produce alpha-lactalbumin, beta-lactoglobulin and immunoglobulin proteins from the whey stream of fresh milk.
“When I acquired the Dennington site, we believed there was an opportunity to build on its long history of dairy manufacturing and take it into the next generation of specialised nutrition,” Mr Paterson said.
“Our strategy has been to capture more value from every litre of Australian milk by moving beyond traditional commodity powders into high-value proteins.”
Chief executive Ben Anderson said the project would be a world first when completed.
“We’re seeing really heavy demand for protein, which is required for weight management and to support nutrition for GLP-1 users. We’re also seeing increased demand for protein driven by income growth in emerging markets, as well as ageing and active lifestyle nutrition,” Mr Anderson said.
“These fractionated whey proteins are typically taken from the cheesemaking process.
“But the challenge with that is, if you want to increase the volume of those fractionated whey proteins from cheese whey, you need to produce more cheese.
“What’s unique and novel about what ProviCo is doing is taking it from skim milk, avoiding the need to make cheese in a saturated market.
“And the thing about extracting from fresh milk, as opposed to the traditional way, is that the fresh milk approach really preserves the protein structure and yields ingredients with a cleaner flavour and superior functionality.”
The company already produces lactoferrin, micellar casein isolate and native whey protein isolate, exporting its high-value protein ingredients to markets including Europe, China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the US, New Zealand and the Middle East, as well as selling domestically.
In the six years since buying the Dennington site, ProviCo has built a base of 40 farmer suppliers and grown factory staffing from one caretaker to 75 employees.
Mr Anderson said the company had built direct relationships with 21 farmers and also received supply from 19 additional local farmers through the South West Dairy Limited co-operative.
“Together, we’ve got a really great group of farmers who are genuinely interested in the journey we’re on and the investments we’re making,” he said.
ProviCo is also working with some of its farmer suppliers in a Deakin University project to better understand what influences the fractions of protein types in a herd’s milk, including breed, feed, farm conditions and lactation cycle.
“We’re very excited about this program because it’s something we can genuinely work on side by side with the farmer, with both of us on a learning journey,” Mr Anderson said.
Last week, the company was named Agribusiness Exporter of the Year at the 47th Governor of Victoria Export Awards.
“We were pretty chuffed to receive that award,” Mr Anderson said. “I think it was great recognition for a lot of effort that’s gone in over the past few years.”
Mr Anderson said the company’s ultimate goal was to create a higher-value skim milk stream and establish strong global markets for its protein ingredients, allowing it to share value with farmer suppliers and contribute to the local economy for generations to come.
“Ultimately, we want to be a leader in this bio-protein space, so we’re very much focused on building our capability to do that.”
Mr Paterson added: “For me, the exciting part is that we are combining Australian milk, regional manufacturing and new technology to build a protein business with a genuinely global future.”
Camille Smith
September 10, 2026
The Weekly Times
Read The Article Here: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/agribusiness/provico-invests-90m-in-worldfirst-victorian-dairy-protein-plant/news-story/52534c1a65be4f59e17a32a5deed0f7e
