Meet the Family
Richard Bennett
Richard was appointed General Manager of Ashgrove Cheese in February 2011 having spent the previous 8 years as Production Manager. Richard is the elder son of Michael Bennett and was encouraged to follow his older sister Jane into a career in cheese making.
From a young age Richard was a natural cheese-maker. When Richard was just 17 and should have been studying for his year 12 exams, he was busy making cheese that went on to win a number of awards and gold medals.
In September 1999 Richard returned to the family business having completed a Diploma in Dairy Technology at the Gilbert Chandler campus of the University of Melbourne. Richard spent 6 months in New Zealand, gaining cheese making experience with leading New Zealand speciality cheese producer Kapiti Cheese prior to returning to Ashgrove.
As well as continuing the tradition of the favourite Ashgrove Products, Richard has developed number of new cheese product for Ashgrove and has been responsible for the development of the milk bottling business.
Richard is currently Captain of the Elizabeth Town Fire Brigade. This continues a family tradition as Richard’s father Michael, was captain for 35 years.
Richard is married to Fiona who works at Ashgrove Cheese.
John Bennett
John Bennett AM is the Chairman of the Ashgrove Board of Directors and former partner in Ashgrove Farms.
Upon completion of school, John joined his father Dudley and brother Michael on the farm. They were later joined by John’s youngest brother Gerald and the family formed the farming partnership of W D R Bennett & Sons. W D R Bennett sons expanded the family farming operation to a number of properties in Elizabeth Town. Upon Dudley’s death John and Michael and their wives Connie and Maureen formed Ashgrove Farms.
It was John’s extensive experience as a dairy company director that influenced his desire to shift the focus from mixed farming to dairying and establish a value added milk processing business on the farm.
John’s experience in the dairy industry includes a number of roles such as:
- President of the Australian Dairy Farmers Federation 1976-85;
- Deputy Chairman of the Australian Dairy Corporation 1981-86;
- Director of Asia Dairy Industries (HK) Ltd 1977-87;
- President/Commissioner of P.T/Indo Milk 1977-84;
- Director of Thai Dairy Industry Co. Ltd 1980-87; and
Inaugural Chairman of the Australian Diary Industry Conference 1976-85.
John is still involved in the farm and is the manager of various projects at Ashgrove Cheese. John is a member of the Deloraine Rotary Club.
John is married to Connie who is also a director of Ashgrove Cheese and former partner in Ashgrove Farms.
Michael Bennett
The eldest son of Dudley Bennett, Michael joined his father on the farm full time at the age of 14 in 1952.
In 1979 Michael undertook a Nuffield Scholarship to study agricultural developments in the UK. Michael has travelled extensively as a Nuffield Scholar studying farming and agribusiness operations all around the world.
When Ashgrove Cheese was established in 1993, Michael moved from the farm into managing sales and marketing for the new business.
Michael is currently a Director of Ashgrove Cheese and Partner in Ashgrove Farms. He can be seen most days in the Ashgrove Farm Shop talking to customers and tour groups.
Michael is a member of the Deloraine Rotary Club.
Michael is married to Maureen Bennett who is a partner in Ashgrove Farms and former director of Ashgrove Cheese.
Paul Bennett
Paul Bennett is a director of Ashgrove Cheese and the Farm Manager of the Ashgrove Farms partnership.
Paul commenced a Farm Apprenticeship in 1987 and was named Tasmanian Apprentice of the Year in 1989. In 1991 Paul completed a Diploma in Farm Management with honours at Marcus Oldham Farm Management College in Geelong.
Today Paul manages the Ashgrove Farm operations on 1500 hectares of family owned and rented land in the Elizabeth Town district. In addition to the dairy farming operation the business includes beef fattening operation, agri-forestry and cash cropping.
Paul was Rural Youth Tasmania State President in 1998 and 1999, and the inaugural president of Western Tiers Rural Youth in 1992.
Paul is now a director of Dairy Tas and a member of the Elizabeth Town Fire Brigade.
Paul is married to Bernadette and they have two sons, William and Angus. The boys are the face of Ashgrove Milk and can be found on the label of all Ashgrove Milk varieties.
David Bennett
David Bennett is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Ashgrove Cheese. David is the youngest child of Michael Bennett and was 9 years old when the cheese making business began. He grew up helping his older sister and brother making and packing cheese throughout the school holidays.
David completed a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Law at the University of Tasmania in 2008. His first full time position with Ashgrove was as Southern Tasmanian Milk Sales Representative in late 2008. His role was quickly expanded to covering the whole of Tasmanian milk and cheese sales during a period of massive growth for the business in milk sales.
David was appointed Sales and Marketing Manager in February 2011.
David and his partner Danielle have two daughters Isabella and Ivy.
Jane Bennett – A Special Mention
Although no longer actively involved in the running of Ashgrove Cheese Jane’s contribution in establishing Ashgrove and through the first 18 years helped develop Ashgrove into the successful company it is today.
Jane is the second eldest daughter of Michael Bennett, it took her father 6 months to convince Jane cheese-making was a good career option.
Jane studied Diary Technology at the Gilbert Chandler Campus of the Victorian Colleges of Agriculture and Horticulture in Werribee.
On completion of her studies Jane moved to the UK to work with leading farmhouse cheese makers in Britain for two years to hone her skills in the art of small scale cheese making.
Jane returned to Tasmania in late 1992 and began production of Ashgrove Cheese in 1993. Jane has received a number of awards recognising her role in establishing Ashgrove and her active involvement in the agricultural and regional community development including:
- Tasmanian Young Achiever of Awards in 1995;
- ABC Radio Australian Rural Woman of the Year 1997;
- Regional Development Award of the Young Australian of the Year in 1998 and
- Tasmanian Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 2010.