Pauls (dairy)

Pauls is an Australian brand name for a range of dairy products. Pauls history can be traced back to 1923.^[1] The company has been known under various names, including Queensland United Foods Ltd (QUF), Pauls Ice Cream & Milk Ltd and Pauls Limited. In 1998, Pauls Limited was purchased by the Italian company Parmalat, and officially changed its name in 2003 to Parmalat Australia Ltd. The company currently has its headquarters in South Brisbane. Today, Pauls is an Australian brand name under the Parmalat umbrella; a subsidiary of the multinational French company Lactalis.^[2][3]

Carton Pauls pure milk

Origins

The company was registered as Pauls Polar Perfections Pty Limited on 13 June 1933 with paid up capital of £900 by Edward Stokes, who was still involved in 1951 as managing director of the operating company Pauls Ice Cream and Milk Ltd.^[4] The name has been written as Pauls, Paul's, and Pauls'.

1930s

The company in 1933 sponsored the Pauls' 4BC Party at the Brisbane City Hall.^[5]

In 1937, the North Rockhampton premises of Paul's Polar Perfections Pty Ltd suffered notable damage due to a fire.^[6]

Pauls Polar Perfections Limited went from being a proprietary concern to a publicly listed company.^[7] With its cold storage, the company also embraced fruit syrup manufacture and required new equipment. Directors of the company are Messieurs G. Andrew (wholesale milk vendor), T. W. Biggs (solicitor), W. A. Jolly MHR (accountant), and E. Stokes (managing).

Subject to the regulations of the Brisbane Milk Board, suppliers' milk was subjected to chemical analysis, and examination for bacteria. Pauls Ice Cream and Milk Ltd was now registered as a wholesale milk vendor.^[8]

The Milk Supply Act came into existence in late 1939.^[9]

1940s

The company still only young in 1946 wrote about its origins, Pauls Ice Cream & Milk Ltd.: a history.^[10]

Many companies benefited from transportation contracts with Pauls, including Bill Bolton's Cobb & Co. Redman Transport across the Darling Downs.^[11]

Pauls Milk and Ice Cream Ltd planned a £150,000 construction and plant extension to create powdered milk.^[12] It meant milk suppliers did not need to sell excess supplies to butter factories. In the post war period, steel supply however was considered an issue that might delay construction.

In the late 1940s and 1950s Pauls milk was delivered in a glass bottle with a characteristic squared shape and gold-colored metal cap,^[13] which first appeared in July 1948.

A job with the company included staff superannuation and social amenities.^[14] Employees were employed under the Ice Making, Ice-cream Making, and Cold Storage Award, Southern Division (Eastern District), where the union was seeking to change the temperature of a freezer room to 1 °C (32 °F), and workers would not start before 6.00 am.^[15]

1950s

Pauls Milk Ltd in 1953 commenced building two powdered milk processing plants at South Brisbane, Brisbane.^[16] Its benefits included assistance to those persons on non-fat diets, assisting persons in remote areas unable to access fresh milk, cooking versatility, and another option when whole milk shortages occurred.^[17]

Various Pauls depots existed around Brisbane including at the suburbs of Rocklea and Coorparoo.^[18]

Several other milk companies in Brisbane at the time included the United Milk Vendors Pty Ltd^[19] and United Vendors' Milk Distributors.^[20]

Pauls was from around 1956^[21] the dominant supplier of milk products to Darwin, where for many years they had a batching plant for producing reconstituted milk, combined with some locally sourced fresh milk, for supply to the "Top End".

Today

In January 2020 the company was awarded a Queensland Health tender to supply the Metro North Hospital and Health Service with milk, yoghurt and other products.^[22] A small public protest indicated Maleny Dairy should have been favoured under the government procurement policy of 'Buy Queensland' local purchasing, as Pauls was part of the French-based Lactalis company.^[23][24]

During the course of its history, Pauls product line has evolved. At one time it also produced ice cream but at present concentrates on dairy lines such as milk and cream, custard, yoghurt, and a line of milk and juice beverages.

Awards

Queensland United Foods (QUF) was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2013, in recognition of its success as a listed Queensland public company and its outstanding contribution to the national dairy industry through innovations in production technology, products and marketing.^[25][26]

Gallery

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  Pauls Darwin quart milk bottle

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  Pauls Darwin quart milk bottle base

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  Pauls old logo seen during the 1980s

Images inside the working factory at South Brisbane in the 2010s are also available from the '31361 Dean Saffron Paul's milk factory photographs' collection of the State Library of Queensland.^[27]

References

1. "Parmalat uses Loscam's pine pallets". Ferret.com.au. from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
2. . Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
3. "Parmalat". www.parmalat.com. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
4. "Pauls to Make New £150.000 Issue". The Courier-mail. No. 4425. Queensland, Australia. 1 February 1951. p. 11. Retrieved 3 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Advertising". Sunday Mail. No. 546. Queensland, Australia. 12 November 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "FIRE AT PAUL'S FACTORY". Morning Bulletin. No. 22, 096. Queensland, Australia. 22 May 1937. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Pauls Ice Cream Co. Increasing Capital £25,000". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 26 August 1938. p. 5 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Board's Effort Ensure Purity of City Milk Supply". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 21 November 1939. p. 14 (CITY FINAL LAST MINUTE NEWS). Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "MILK TRIBUNAL'S POWERS QUESTIONED". The Courier-mail. No. 1788. Queensland, Australia. 26 May 1939. p. 10. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Pauls Ice Cream & Milk Ltd. : a history". National Library of Australia. 1946. from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
11. Tranter, Deborah (2005). Bolton, William Robert Fossey (Bill) (1905–1973). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
12. "Big Milk Plan For S-E. Q'ld. £150/000 Plant". Queensland Country Life. Vol. 14, no. 18. Queensland, Australia. 11 November 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
13. "Advertising". Brisbane Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 15 September 1950. p. 28. Retrieved 28 November 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "Family Notices". The Courier-mail. No. 3334. Queensland, Australia. 1 August 1947. p. 12. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "SOUTHERN DISTRICT". Worker. Vol. 59, no. 3193. Queensland, Australia. 27 September 1948. p. 9. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "New Industrials Era In Qld. ?". Queensland Times. No. 20, 592. Queensland, Australia. 3 January 1953. p. 1 (Daily). Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
17. "Pauls Dried Powder Extends Milk Market". Queensland Country Life. Vol. 19, no. 38. Queensland, Australia. 1 April 1954. p. 18. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
18. "A.W.C. ACTIVITIES". Worker. Vol. 64, no. 3440. Queensland, Australia. 22 June 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
19. "GREEKS SAY 'THANK YOU': TO JOIN IN FLOOD RELIEF". The Courier-mail. Queensland, Australia. 4 March 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
20. "PASTEURISED MILK PLANT OPENED". The Telegraph. Queensland, Australia. 10 December 1938. p. 7 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved 2 December 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
21. [1]^{[dead link]}
22. "Dairy contract". Metro North Hospital and Health Service. The State of Queensland (Queensland Health). 17 January 2020. from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
23. NICHOLS, Jennifer (22 January 2020). "Maleny Dairies overwhelmed by support since losing government tender to international companies". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
24. "Queensland government criticised over offshore milk deal". SBS News. 17 January 2020. from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
25. "Hall of Fame". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. State Library of Queensland. from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
26. "QUF". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
27. SCHEU, Anne (25 September 2018). "Digitised @ SLQ – Paul's dairy factory photo collection". John Oxley Library. The State of Queensland (State Library of Queensland). from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame
• Queensland United Foods Digital Stories and Oral History, State Library of Queensland