Otago Fresh Milk: where you can taste the love!
Delicious, healthy, ethical dairy
About Otago Fresh Milk
Get to Know Us
Welcome to Otago Fresh Milk, where you can taste the love! Our delicious, farm-fresh milk is unhomogenised, unpasteurised and infused with nothing but love.
Our farm is a small, family run operation - Steve and Shelli and daughter Katie are passionate about our cows and the delicious milk they produce.
We have been building our precious cow families for twenty years. Each special girl has a name. Stop on by – we’d love to introduce you!
We’re passionate about sharing the health benefits of raw milk with dairy lovers near and far. And we take your health seriously. As a licenced raw milk supplier, we follow strict procedures and complete rigorous testing of our milk to ensure your safety. Always. Not only do we love raw milk, we love our environment too. We’re all about helping dairy lovers reduce their food miles and shop waste-free.
Otago Fresh Milk – for the love of dairy. Delicious, healthy, ethical dairy.
For the love of cows
Our cows are the heart of our business
When Steve and Shelli realised it was time to retire from sharemilking, the one thing they couldn't face was selling their favourite cows, the precious cow families built up over more than 20 years. So, the idea behind Otago Fresh Milk was born.
Ethical management of our cows is important to us. We have a no bobby calf system, every calf born is reared.
Every cow in the herd is known by name. Most are registered pedigrees and some of our ladies can often be seen at A&P shows around Otago where they often win prizes. You don't have to go far to meet them though, you can arrange a visit to meet them on the farm in Palmerston. Click on the button to send a request.
For the love of milk
About our raw milk
Fresh Raw Milk
If you are looking for locally produced fresh natural raw milk in recyclable bottles, you’ve come to the right place. At Otago Fresh Milk we supply our customers with delicious fresh milk straight from our beloved cows to you.
Visit us on farm in Palmerston and buy your milk just metres away from where it was produced only hours earlier. Or we can deliver your milk right to your door within our delivery area, on the same day it was produced. It doesn't get fresher or more local than that!
Our process
Like all dairy farms, work begins at sunrise or before, feeding and caring for our cows and younger animals.
At milking time,our beautiful herd of cows leave their grass paddock to make the short walk to the farm dairy for milking.
Our cows love the treats they are fed in the dairy and jostle each other to be first to get in. Once they have lined up ready for milking, their udders are first washed and dried and then the milking cups are applied.
Milking takes about 5-10 minutes per row and then the cows walk back to their next feed of grass and relax for the rest of the day, while we begin the rigorous equipment cleaning procedure that takes place after every milking.
Direct from our cows to you
From leaving the cow, our milk passes through a filter and a cooling system before being further chilled in a stainless steel vat. Within hours of milking time it is bottled and placed in the fridges ready for sale. Fresh, delicious milk with the cream on top, just like it used to be!
We have two container options for you - traditional glass pint milk bottles or for larger families and cheese makers we can provide 5l pails by pre-order.
How to buy in store
Our delicious fresh milk can be bought by visiting our farm shop, which is located on State Highway 1 just north of Palmerston. You can drive into the farm yard and right up to the door of the shop.
There are two ways to pay for your milk in store, either pre-purchased on this website - in which case your milk will be reserved under your name in the fridge ready for collection, or by paying cash on collection (no eftpos yet sorry).
5l pails of milk can only be purchased by pre-payment.
The first time you purchase, you will need to pay for your bottles or pail sets, after that you simply exchange your clean empty containers for the same number of filled ones and just pay for the milk.
Pre-payments made by 2pm will be ready for collection the next day by 12 pm, or later if you chose. You can pre-pay up to a month in advance.
However you chose to pay, you will need to follow the sign in procedure posted in the shop, which is a requirement of our license to sell raw milk.
Home delivery
Ordering milk for home delivery couldn't be easier.
We deliver three times a week to Dunedin and twice a week to Oamaru and along SH1 along the way. If you aren't sure if we will deliver to your area, get in contact with us by email, phone, messenger or text and we will happily talk to you about it. If you aren't in our current delivery areas, please still get in touch as we may be coming to your area soon! Check out our delivery map here.
To receive your delivery you will need to pre-purchase bottles or pails, which you can do on our order page. Deliveries take place late evening or overnight. We can only deliver to residential addresses.
We need to drop your milk off into a fridge or chilly bin with ice packs if you aren't home. Please let us know on the order form where we can leave your milk so it will be cold and delicious when you receive it.