Victoria's longest serving milkman Malcolm McCann to retire this week

Malcolm McCann, who was a born in Warrenheip in 1953, said he has always had "milk running in his blood".

From about four years of age Mr McCann can vividly remember his parents tending to their dairy farm which at the time operated under the name Advance Dairy.

When asked by The Courier what motivated him to enter the milk industry he said while it wasn't his first choice it was a nudge by his father which prompted his first steps.

"At the time I wanted to be an interstate truck driver because one of my dad's best mates was a driver and he'd come home with these amazing stories ," Mr McCann said.

"But I wasn't a class scholar at Ballarat Junior Tech [which now forms part of Federation University].

"I then remember coming home one Thursday after school and my dad mentioned joining the dairy business and then come the Friday I started work in the family business."

Mr McCann was 15 when he first began accompanying his father on dairy rounds.

He said his father told him the job was an interim occupation before he decided on what he really wanted to pursue in life.

"My dad said spend 12 months here and then you can decide what you want to do after," Mr McCann said.

"Reflecting now I'm glad it didn't happen me becoming a truck driver and I stuck with the dairy field."

During his time in the milk industry, Mr McCann saw his family's dairy business change multiple hands.

In 2008, after more than 50 years of service Advance Dairy, which rebranded to McCann's Dairy Centre in the eighties, was sold to Melbourne-based Dixon's.

It was then bought by a Horsham-based company who operated for several years before being acquired by another Melbourne based company Southern Milk Supplies in 2017.

Despite the numerous takeovers, Mr McCann said his dedication to the milk industry, particularly as a delivery man, had not wavered one bit.

He said it is the connection to community the role has provided him which has seen him still working in the industry for more than six decades.

"It's the clientele who really make the job worthwhile," Mr McCann said.

"I've worked in all departments in a dairy from coolroms, to loading trucks, to organising milk rounds but it is delivering milk to customers which I love most.

"Being able to speak with them and helping them to solve their problems to the best of my ability has to be one of the highlights for me."

Mr McCann said the position had also enabled him to sharpen his public speaking skills and confidence levels.

Having witnessed the delivery of milk on horse and cart, to the mandatory pasteurisation of all dairy in 1954, to the now flurry of milk products, he said the job has also taught him how to adapt to an ever-changing world.

"When I first started we only ever supplied milk and cream and now you've got about 500 lines of dairy products," Mr McCann said.

"Companies will be creating things like Golden Gaytime milk and you just think 'what the hell?' but you give it a go anyways and you just work with it."

As for his view on the longevity of the dairy industry with the growing influx of non-dairy alternatives, he said he still sees a "bright future" ahead for the traditional milk business.

"People will always buy white milk and I think now people will just have a greater choice with things like oat milk around," Mr McCann said.

"The industry has been around for such a long time so it will continue to flourish."

Still as clever as ever, Mr McCann said his decision to step away from the milk business was driven by a need to slow down, embrace family and close mates.

"I'm going to miss it for sure but it's time," he said.

"You'll probably catch me having a coffee somewhere meeting up with my friends who are all now mostly retired or up at my property in Warrenheip."

Southern Milk Supplies Ballarat site manager Shaun Bourke said Mr McCann has provided him with invaluable insight into the evolving nature of the dairy business.

"Malcolm is the only person I've worked with who has been in this industry so long," Mr Bourke said.

"I moved down to Ballarat two years ago and I've been in this role for a year, coming from a transport background, and I've always relied on Malcolm to give me sound advice.

"Even driving around the region he has always enlightened me with new information that I doubt few people would know."

On Friday December 16, Southern Milk Supplies will hold a celebratory party marking Mr McCann's last day in the dairy field at their Delacombe site.

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