Farmers Union Iced Coffee outsells Coca Cola in this Australian state - Non-Alcoholic

Jul 02, 2024

The folklore of the iced coffee runs deep.

There’s no denying that South Australians march to the beat of their own drum. A penchant for peas in their pies. A fondness for cakes shaped like frogs. Yo-Yo’s. And iced coffee. Lots and lots of iced coffee. Specifically, Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee.

So beloved is this iced coffee that in South Australia, it outsold Coca-Cola 3:1 in 2008, making it the only place in the world where a milk drink outsold a cola drink. A similar claim was made again in 2017, where the numbers dropped to 2:1.

While we’re yet to receive the sales reports from both Farmers Union and Coca Cola to confirm these stats, we’re going to go along with it for now, because it’s a great story and we want it to be true. In fact, there’s even a viral reel about it doing the rounds on Instagram right now.

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What we do know for sure is that the loyalty of Farmers Union customers is the stuff of legends. Despite 136 years in business, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the label. A few changes of hands offshore created an outcry from loyalists, and when Farmers Union was returned to Australian ownership in 2021 by Bega, an underdog energy was created that Australians are powerless to resist. Of course we’d support them! We love an Aussie battler!

But wait. It goes further. The beloved FUIC is such an institution that there’s speculation it even has repercussions in the auto industry. Let us explain.

Most cars are fitted out with round cup holders to store round cups, round bottles, and round cans but not in South Australia, friends. You see, the FUIC traditionally comes in a square carton, therefore, regular cupholders are useless to fans. No, they need something more specialised. Enter: South Australia’s square cup holders.

Farmer's Union Square Cup Holder

In 2017, Farmers Union teamed up with Audi Australia to create a one-off prototype of the square cup holder as part of an April Fool’s joke. The people of South Australia weren’t laughing though, and demand for the “joke” has resulted in intermittent special releases by Audi Australia ever since.

Follow the red string though, because another car brand has introduced square cup holders in the years that followed – most notably, the Mitsubishi Magna and the Mitsubishi 380. Guess where those were designed and manufactured? That’s right! Adelaide!

A series of random design choices? Perhaps. But you know what they say: two is a coincidence, three is a pattern. Which brings us to the Holden J300 Cruz, designed and released in 2008, manufactured in Elizabeth, an outer northern suburb of Adelaide. Want to know what else happened in 2008? Japanese company Kirin closed its deal to purchase Farmers Union. Holden ceased manufacturing vehicles in Australia in 2017 – the same year Farmers Union cosied up with Audi.

Never ask Farmers Union about their business.