AMSCOL (Adelaide Milk Supply Co-Operative Limited) was a South Australian dairy company. It was particularly well known for its range of ice creams,[1][2] and its advertising slogan "It's a food, not a fad".[3] It was founded in 1922 and was bought out by Streets in the early 1980s.[4]
Background
The business that later became AMSCOL was established by the Beauchamp brothers, who operated a milk delivery business from premises at 150 Carrington Street, Adelaide. They were sons of John Beachim Beauchamp (c. 1830 – 7 August 1913)[5] who was married to Jane Caroline Beauchamp, née Baker (c. 1841 – 6 December 1897).[6] In 1876 the Beauchamp family migrated from Somerset, U.K. to South Australia and, after failing as farmers, they purchased a dairy on Junction Road, Rosewater, where the younger brothers spent their childhood.[7] The Beauchamp brothers included Herbert, Frank, George, Walter, Harry, and Richard. One brother, George W. Beauchamp left for the United States around 1906 and founded a thriving ice cream business in Chicago.[8] By 1926, he was a major shareholder in the Whelan Icecream Company and Hydrox Dairy Corporation, but had little day-to-day involvement.[9]
Company history
In January 1921, a dairy manager in Enfield, P. C. Manuel, helped set up the Wholesale Milk Producers' Association.[13] In 1922, 579 (or 94%) of the milk producers agreed to purchase an established milk distribution company (so that supply could be controlled from production to distribution) and decided on A. M. S. C.. The new company, now renamed AMSCOL, was set up on the co-op model, with farmers supplying more or less milk depending on the number of shares held and being paid according to its butterfat content.[14]
Manuel and Walter Beauchamp became directors, with Harry Beauchamp as depot manager in Murray Bridge.[13] The only other brother who figures prominently in the company is Francis Charles Zebedee Steeds "Frank" Beauchamp (1879 – 27 September 1949),[15] who was employed as works manager.[16] Woodside butter factory was also purchased at this time, adding butter and cheese production to the business.
External links
- AMSCOL Photographs, State Library of South Australia
- Promotional material (1924), Department of Primary Industries and Regions
References
- Flashback: Amscol returning to Adelaide, 7 News Adelaide, 8 July 2020^
- Joy of Amscol sticks in the memory, Bob Byrne, The Advertiser, July 6 2015^
- “It’s a Food, Not a Fad”, Adelaide Remember When, Bob Byrne, October 23, 2014