Iconic Australian dairy brand is being rescued by locals after a Chinese buyer tried to close the business

A popular Australian cheese and yoghurt brand has been saved from closure and is back in local hands after its Chinese owner closed the business.

Daily Mail Australia has learned that the Margaret River Dairy Company, based in Metricup, an hour south of Perth, has been bought by a local dairy company and is preparing to restart production, although the products are not yet available.

The much-loved items disappeared from supermarket shelves last year after former owner Sydney-based Manassen Foods, in turn owned by Chinese company Bright Foods, closed the business.

The Shanghai-based conglomerate had been trying to sell the company since 2021, but Manassen announced it would close its doors in September 2023 after failing to find a buyer.

The company's store in Metricup was a popular tourist destination and its closure on October 1 by its overseas owner was a blow that infuriated locals.

The Margaret River Dairy company has been in business in one form or another for more than half a century.

Its origins can be traced back to a group of Italian artisan cheesemakers who started making ranch and ricotta cheeses on the outskirts of Perth in 1966.

After moving to the countryside outside the city, the operation known as Fonti Farm Cheeses merged in 1994 with a nearby boutique cheese factory known as the Margaret River Cheese Company.

When Manassen purchased the company in 2000, they renamed it Margaret River Dairy Company.

Eleven years later, Manassen was acquired by Bright Foods.