Milk made in Hong Kong? University rolls out only drink of its kind in city, hopes to reach some supermarkets in future
- City University flew in 24 cows from Australia last year to live on its farm in Tai Po as part of new veterinary medicine programme
- Locally produced milk is on sale at university’s campus in Kowloon Tong for HK$9 (US$1) per 236ml carton
A university in Hong Kong began selling the city’s only locally produced milk on its campus on Thursday, while expressing hopes that its products would soon hit some supermarket shelves.
In 2017, City University became the first and only local tertiary education institution to launch a veterinary medicine programme. It flew in more than 20 cows from Australia last September to enhance the teaching it could provide and produce milk locally.
A farm run by the university in Tai Po, where the cows are housed, features facilities such as barns, feeding tables, milking machines and a room for processing the drink.
Undergraduate veterinary students will attend compulsory courses at the farm during their six years of studies. They will learn basic animal handling, conduct clinical exams, diagnose disease and provide medical treatment for the cattle.
“At our peak, currently, we are producing about 550 litres (1,162 pints) of milk a day. But in the coming November, we’ll be down to just 100 to 200 litres per day,” farm manager Eryl Done said. “The average across the year will be somewhere over 300 litres a day.”
This roughly translates to about 1,200 cartons of milk, each at a size of 236ml (8 fluid ounces), hitting the shelves every day.
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After three years of preparation, the milk is on sale at the university’s campus in Kowloon Tong for HK$9 (US$1) per carton. The drink is entirely produced by the 24 young pregnant Jersey cows the university raises on its farm.
The animals are a breed of small dairy cattle originating from the Channel Islands that Done said was more tolerant of heat than other varieties and produced milk with higher fat and protein content.
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A check on the Consumer Council’s website showed that similar products by Kowloon Dairy and Trappist Dairy were sold at HK$9 and HK$9.50, respectively. A package of 200ml shelf-stable milk imported from Japan could be found at between HK$10 and HK$16 in supermarkets.
Government statistics showed that Hong Kong imported 89,000 tonnes of milk last year, of which a fifth was fresh.
“We are certainly hoping to sell a significant minority of the [city’s fresh] milk over the counter here,” Done said.
“Our farm is all about sustainability and sustainable production,” said Professor Vanessa Barrs, dean of the university’s veterinary medicine and life sciences college.
“Our farm gives us and our students so many different opportunities to learn about veterinary medicine. Students start at the farm from the very first year they study veterinary science.”
Barrs said the university was investigating the possibility of “making some milk available in one or two supermarkets”.
“We will sell all of the milk that we produce, but unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to provide milk for the whole of Hong Kong,” she said.
