OAK is a national Australian pasteurised flavoured milk brand, first established in 1967 in New South Wales. OAK flavoured milk was launched into Queensland, South Australia and Victoria in 1998. It was discontinued in Victoria in 2006 but relaunched back in 2010. OAK launched into West Australia in October 2013.
Products
OAK flavoured milk comes in the following flavours:
Chocolate
Strawberry
Banana
Vanilla Malt
Iced Coffee
Egg Nog
Gold Caramel White Choc
In collaboration with Allen’s and Nestlé, OAK has also offered the following limited edition flavoured milks:
OAK also mocked up packaging for, but never produced, the following flavours:
Vegan Carob
Choc Hazelnut
Vanilla Crumble
OAK has also been sold in frozen chocolate soft serve form in limited locations seasonally. OAK also is available in UHT long life format, in strawberry and chocolate flavours. In 2013, OAK released THE MAX range, beginning with Cool Choc Mint in May 2013, Molten Caramel in October 2013, and the limited edition Chilly Choc Chilli in March 2015. In November 2017, the OAK Thick range was also released, that thickens after shaking to give a thick-shake like mouthfeel. It launched in Death by Chocolate, Vanilla Killa, Choc Mint and Salted Caramel flavours, at Woolworths. A similar product, OAK mini shake, that contains less sugar and that is sold in 250ml was released in October 2019 in chocolate and strawberry flavours. In April 2017, OAK launched OAK Plus, a sports recovery flavoured milk drink, with added protein. It is available in vanilla, chocolate, banana & honey flavours. The OAK brand has also stretched across a range of dairy foods in its past, such as ice cream, cottage cheese, butter, custard, cream and frozen yoghurt.
Nutrition
The nutritional values vary by flavour, however chocolate, strawberry, banana, banilla malt, iced coffee are similar. The Oak MAX and Light Chocolate contain approximately 25% fewer calories and approximately half the fat of chocolate milk. In contrast, Egg Nog has approximately 25% more energy and 50% more fat than chocolate milk, and OAK Plus, which was launched in early 2017, contains around 30g more protein. The values for chocolate milk are:
Chocolate Milk
Per 300mL Serve
Per 100mL
Energy
1128kJ
376kJ
Protein
9.9g
3.5g
Fat
10.8g
3.4g
- Saturated
6.6g
2.2g
Carbohydrate
33.0g
11.0g
- Sugars
31.8g
10.6g
Sodium
150 mg
50 mg
Calcium
345 mg
115 mg
Ownership
The OAK brand is currently owned by Lactalis - a multinational French dairy and food corporation. Lactalis acquired the brand from Parmalat who acquired the OAK brand from Dairy Farmers in July 2009, six months after Dairy Farmers was bought by National Foods.
Several OAK branded milk bars have operated in the Hunter region in the past, in locations such as Newcastle, Hexham, Peats Ridge and Freemans Waterhole. Many of the milk bars were mapped out down the main route north from Sydney. Only the OAK Milk Bar at Freemans Waterhole still operates as a milk bar.
