When Riverina Fresh received a request for the UAE Barista Championships, the team crossed continents (literally) to transport their fresh milk almost 12,000 kilometres across the world.
As the milk of choice for many of Australia’s barista champions and competitors, the team at Riverina Fresh are used to going out of their way to ensure competing baristas have everything they need for success. Yet, at the end of 2024, Events and Marketing Planner Kate Fitzpatrick received a request she wasn’t sure she could fulfil.
“Between Christmas and New Year, we received an Instagram message from Ibrahim Al Mallouhi, Founder of The Espresso Lab, one of the first specialty coffee shops in Dubai. He asked if we could supply our milk for one of his baristas in the upcoming UAE National Barista Championship,” she says.
“I immediately thought ‘of course we can’, as our milk has been used in overseas competitions by Australian baristas, but the logistics of ensuring our perishable product survives the journey isn’t straightforward. The milk must not only endure the 14-hour flight from Melbourne to Dubai, but also the journey from our dairy in Wagga Wagga to the airport and then from the airport in Dubai to The Espresso Lab. We also didn’t have much time to arrange the logistics.”
The quality of the milk is paramount in competitions such as the Barista Championships, and it had to be transported fresh and kept at a consistently cool temperature. Kate says freezing the milk is never an option because the process of freezing and then defrosting materially impacts the quality and flavour.
“I told Ibrahim that we could do it, but the milk needed to be personally escorted to Dubai,” she says.
Kate started speaking to her industry contacts to find out if anyone from Australia was going to be attending the competition, which was held as part of World of Coffee Dubai expo in February. Her plan was to find someone who could escort the milk directly to The Espresso Lab’s door.
“As it turned out, some of the team from the It’s Just Coffee! podcast were attending the expo and agreed to take the milk for us. Ibrahim arranged for one of the podcast hosts, Kirk Pearson, to fly out a few days early with the milk. It was packed in an Esky alongside ice packs, with the individual milk bottles wrapped in sleeves to prevent them touching the ice packs and forming any ice crystals,” Kate says.
The team sent two batches of milk to Dubai, the first a selection of different products for The Espresso Lab barista Aldy Nugroho to sample and then select the milk that best complemented his competition coffee. From the Gold, Full Cream, and Lactose-Free varieties, Aldy chose the Gold, which was flown out a couple days later for the competition with Sonam Sherpa from the podcast team.
“We ended up sending 10 bottles of Gold in two Eskys. When we have these types of requests, we rely heavily on feedback from our internal team of milk sensory experts and our laboratory in Wagga Wagga. This ensures we only send product that is of the highest quality in both composition and taste. We were also fortunate that the production schedule lined up with the flight schedules, and the milk was delivered to Aldy in less than 72 hours from the time it was fresh off the farm,” she says.
For Ibrahim, the no-expense-spared operation was worth the time and effort, with Aldy placing first and becoming the UAE Barista Champion 2025.
“In 2023 we placed third and last year we placed second. I believe using Riverina Fresh milk was pivotal in us coming first in 2025. It had been eight years since we had won, so I did scream out when Aldy’s name was called – I was very proud,” he says.
“The other competitors used dairy from our country, which is very good, but for a competition you need something unique and using Australian milk made us stand out from the crowd.”
Ibrahim first came across Riverina Fresh at the 2022 World Barista Championship and Brewers Cup in Melbourne. He had noticed it was the milk of choice of Australian Barista Champions and was intrigued to try it himself.
“I tried the milk and was impressed by its natural sweetness. I knew then that I wanted to use it in the UAE National Barista Championship. At first, I had trouble contacting the team at Riverina Fresh, so whenever a friend visited Australia I asked them to bring me back the milk,” he says.
“There are lots of great milks, but it’s rare to find one that tastes great with coffee.”
Aldy paired Riverina Fresh Gold with a natural coffee from Kai Janson in Panama, which he also used in the espresso round. The team at The Espresso Lab roasted the beans differently for the two serves.
“For the espresso we roasted it very light and for the milk beverage we roasted a little darker to complement the milk and deliver notes of nougat, hazelnut, and caramel,” says Ibrahim.
With the 2025 World Barista Championships taking place in Milan in October, Ibrahim is hoping to use Riverina’s premium milk in Italy.
Riverina Fresh Gold was crafted to be used by baristas and paired with coffee. Working closely with 2015 World Barista Champion and Founder of Ona Coffee Sasa Sestic to create the product, the team explored the science of milk and coffee to create a product with higher milk fat to complement specific roasts and profiles.
“It was crafted to deliver a rich, creamy mouthfeel that balances darker, stronger coffees, while also allowing subtle, fruity, and sweet notes to shine,” says Craig Shapiro, Executive Chairman and CEO of Riverina Fresh.
Although Gold has been the choice of many Barista Championship competitors, including Australian winners Jack Simpson, Matt Lewin, and Hugh Kelly, Craig says more recently some baristas have favoured Riverina’s Lactose-Free product.
“Lactose-free milk is created by adding lactase to the milk. The process of breaking down the lactose results in a naturally sweeter taste. We’ve had a quite a few competitors choose it in recent years as it complements the flavours in the coffee they are trying to highlight,” he says.
In 2020, Riverina Fresh Lactose-Free was named Champion White Milk at the Dairy Industry Association of Australia NSW awards, marking the first time a lactose-free milk has taken home the overall champion title.
Craig says the team were thrilled to support their first international Barista Champion. Over the past few years, the Middle East has become a hub for specialty coffee, which is reflected in fast-growing coffee businesses such as The Espresso Lab.
Ibrahim started The Espresso Lab as a retail store in 2015 and has since expanded to include a series of flagship stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi alongside its roastery, and coffee farm in Panama.
“When I established The Espresso Lab in 2015, we were the only specialty coffee shop in the market. In the past 10 years, the sector has grown exponentially, with lots of independent coffee shops and roasteries launching across Dubai,” he says. “There has been huge growth, but there is definitely room for more.”
Following the win at the National Championships, Ibrahim and Aldy had the honour of serving H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
“We served His Highness a curated course featuring espresso, milk-based beverages, and a signature drink made with the winning coffee from one of the best producers in Panama, Janson Coffee,” says Ibrahim.
“This moment is particularly special as His Highness continues to support local entrepreneurs and foster the growth of homegrown businesses in the UAE.”
For more information, visit riverinafresh.com.au
This article appears in the April/May 2025 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
