Words by Richard Cornish Images supplied
When trade with China soured, milk exporter Matthew Joscelyne was forced to find another gig. For years the dairy trader sent milk products to Macau, Hong Kong and China but when this ended he hatched plans to recreate the type of dairy his grandmother built during the Second World War.
He found a shop in the same strip as artisan butcher Ministry of Meat and the excellent Pier St Kitchen. Matthew bought some old counters from Sydney’s Grace Brothers at auction to complement an old shop counter taken from a store in Burra 80 years ago and stored at Matthew’s family’s farm in South Australia.
The walls bear images of the matriarchs who bought Matthew his love of natural food. “I love the look and feel of old dairies we used to have growing up,” he says.
I wanted to bring back that look and those food values. Nothing artificial, nothing added.
Dairy Lane stocks milk, cream, butter and ice cream sourced from small independent dairies in Gippsland and Tasmania. The fresh milk products come from dairy herds and the ice cream is made without any added artificial ingredients. The ice cream is flavoured with top-quality ingredients such as Belgian chocolate and Australian hazelnuts or Tasmanian leatherwood honey and raspberry and made without stabilisers or preservatives.
All fresh milk products are packed in Dromana in beautifully designed, retro-inspired glass bottles. “The aim is to have a home delivery service that operates from Port Melbourne to Portsea,” says Matthew. “And Dromana is a good halfway point.”
The shop opened a few weeks ago and has already attracted many regulars who come for the great quality and the thick, creamy milkshakes.
THE DETAILS
What: Retro dairy next to great butcher and café in Dromana
Who: Matthew Joscelyne, former milk exporter turned local dairyman
Where: 27 Pier St, Dromana
Why: Great Australian-owned dairy products from Jersey herds
When: Opened just before Easter, now open 7 days
More info: Dairy Lane
We wish to acknowledge the Bunurong people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
