Whenever people come to South Australia they are faced with the same question: what is up with the obsession with Farmers Union Iced Coffee?
No matter where you go, people will be drinking it. There was a legitimate panic in April when rumours spread that there were shortages, and I literally saw a grown man break down and beg when a Farmers Union Iced Coffee-themed pop-up shop in Rundle Mall ran out of limited-edition beanies.
It is the beverage of choice of tradies and hipsters, students and bankers. It transcends class barriers. And it had some of the best ads, including that one with the trucks doing ballet.
SA, it is said, unusual state where red wine outsells white, but that kind of makes sense: after all, if you had easy, regular access to the reds of the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley you’d be mad to drink anything else.
So maybe it’s something in the soil which makes for something special about SA milk and leads to being obsessed with iced coffee. Or maybe it’s something about the brand’s proletariat heritage, forged as it was in the farmers co-op which still features in the name.
Or, again, maybe it’s that ad with the trucks.
In any case, the connection between the drink and the state goes deep. It has regularly been its single most popular beverage, to the point where the the Mitsubishi Magna, built in South Australia, even had cup holders specifically shaped to fit Farmers Union Iced Coffee cartons – as did the (also SA-made) Holden Cruze. That’s… look, that’s obsession, right there.
Other milks have attempted to take the crown, and all have failed. There is but one victor in the Game of Milks.
So, the central question of why SA folks are obsessed with Farmers Union Iced Coffee is… look, it’s beyond understanding.
But hey, maybe they’re on to something…