Dreamview Creamery - Client Highlight

From a family farm to a fresh take on dairy: The Dreamview story

What had started as one business, soon turned into two. Raglan-based 'Hillcrest Farm', a 250 cow dairy farm, didn't know what was going to hit it when David and Bronwyn Hill's daughter, Jess, returned home from university in the South Island with a grand idea. The idea stemmed from Jess's time in the south, working at markets on the weekends amongst her Agricultural Science studies selling bottled fresh-from-the-vat milk.

‘This would work in Raglan!’ she thought and the rest is history.

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From a shipping container to a creamery

Dreamview's beginnings were modest; the family started bottling milk on-farm, initially supplying neighbours and growing the concept of what would soon become the future of Hillcrest Farm.

What began as a small operation working out of a shipping container, eventually became a dedicated purpose-built creamery, with the business developing its own infrastructure, technology and systems as demand grew over the years.

Today, the milk travels just metres from the dairy shed to the creamery, where the Hill’s family’s certified A2 milk is processed and bottled before being delivered to customers. "They'll milk at 5am and it will go straight to the creamery. It's then all bottled and the delivery drivers arrive from around 11am, depending on where we're going. It's all delivered that same day in the afternoon,” Dreamview Operations Manager, Mia Riley informs us. “Delivery drivers start from 8am -11am depending on where they are going. They load their trucks and set off for fresh same day delivery,”

"We have seven delivery trucks covering Auckland 3 times a week, Tauranga and Bay of plenty twice a week and then Waikato six days a week.”

The business has also expanded beyond its raw, pasturised and trim milk, but also producing cream, whey, and a range of flavoured and natural probiotic yoghurt products. Dreamview offers different sizes for wholesale customers, including larger 5-10L stainless-steel pales for cafés and restaurants.

The scale of the operation has changed considerably, but the fundamental idea hasn't - Keep it fresh, keep it local and keep the quality high.

Dreamview is even gaining recognition for what it produces, recently taking home multiple awards from the 2026 Outstanding Food Producers Awards.

● Pasteurised Full Milk: GOLD AWARD

● Natural Probiotic Yoghurt: GOLD AWARD

● Natural Probiotic Yoghurt with Boysenberry Compote: GOLD AWARD

● Cream: SILVER AWARD

● 2026 dairy category overall CHAMPION

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The Dreamview difference

One of Dreamview's biggest points of difference is something that might seem quite simple: the bottle.

Rather than single-use packaging, Dreamview's glass bottles, jars and pales are collected, washed, cleaned and put back into circulation.

For home deliveries, customers return their empty bottles when their next delivery arrives. The business has even developed technology to help track how many bottles are going out and coming back, allowing the team to identify where bottles are being lost and follow up with customers when necessary.

"Nothing is single use.." says Mia.

For Dreamview, sustainability isn't simply something to put on a label, but it is built into the way the business operates and this same value extends across the farm and creamery. From locally sourced ingredients and packaging where possible, through to finding ways to make delivery routes, administration and production more efficient.

“All of our wooden crates are hand built by David, all of our berries for all of our compotes are locally sourced. Our boysenberry compote comes from Te Awamutu, and our blueberries for our blueberry compote is from Hamilton.” Mia explained.

That focus on efficiency has become increasingly important as the business has grown.

“We've worked a lot on the technology side of things. Business was growing faster than anybody could keep up with! If the systems aren't keeping up with the demand, then we're not providing as good a service as we can, because we're busy treading, trying to keep above water," Mia says.

“If we're efficient with deliveries, we're not using as much petrol too. Efficiency from the start rolls right through to make everything more streamlined, more efficient, more sustainable.”

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Growing without losing what makes you different

Growth has brought its own challenges, from bigger buildings, bigger technology, bigger bottling machines and more over the last 10 years.

"It's not been easy, you know, the Hill family starting a business from scratch, there were a lot of costs. It definitely didn't come without its challenges for them, mentally and physically." Mia expresses.

Dreamview now supplies wholesale customers and retailers across a much wider area, while also providing home deliveries throughout the Waikato while demand continues to come from further afield, particularly for its raw milk.

But the family has learned that growth isn't simply about saying yes to every opportunity, there are customers they can't service, markets they have chosen not to go to, and delivery areas they would love to reach but which don't currently make sense for the business. For Mia, knowing when to say no is part of protecting what the business stands for.

“You can only grow so much,” Mia says. “Once you start growing bigger, then you risk becoming something that you're not.”

It is a balancing act between meeting demand, managing resources and remaining true to the original purpose of the business and this is also reflected on the farm.

"We believe in ethical farming. What we're trying to do at the moment is maximize everything we've got on the farm and one of the biggest things for us is being able to track lactation periods," Mia explained. “Which is why the farm has just engaged Halter.” "The farm team aims to feed the cows according to their lactation, so they can boost each cow individually in their production. The goal is to be able to maximize every cow that we've currently got on the property without overstocking the farm. Once that's not enough, then we can reevaluate and look at plan A, B, C and Z.”

The goal is simple: make the most of what they have before deciding what comes next.

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The farm behind the milk

Behind every bottle of Dreamview milk is a working 250-cow dairy farm, and keeping a consistent supply of milk flowing into the creamery is no small feat.

Unlike a traditional seasonal dairy operation, Hillcrest Farm manages a rolling calving system calving in July/Aug, Jan/Feb and March/April, ultimately having cows calving all throughout the year. That means there are always calves being raised and cows moving through different stages of their lactation.

“We are constantly coming in and out of calving, and there’s only a small amount of time where we’ve got no new calves in the shed. We’re feeding calves all year round,” Mia explains.

That year-round approach is important for Dreamview because the business relies on supplying that steady flow of milk that goes directly into the creamery and ultimately into the bottles,

yoghurt and other products customers buy. Maintaining that supply isn't as simple as turning a tap on when the creamery needs more milk.

“The hardest thing is having a steady flow of milk,” says Mia. “Right now, we actually have a bit of extra milk because many are calving down and coming into/at their height of lactation and milking.”

At other times, the farm can be in between groups of newly calved cows, and production naturally drops.

“The production can become slightly short,” Mia says. “We can’t exactly say, ‘Hey cows, can you just produce a little bit more, please?’ It doesn’t really work like that.”

Because Dreamview produces certified A2 milk, the family can't simply supplement its supply by buying milk from a neighbouring farm either. Instead, managing the timing of calving, lactation and production is an ongoing balancing act between the farm and the creamery.

“Jess and David are constantly managing the flows of calving times.” Mia says.

It is another example of the complexity behind what can look like a very simple product on the shelf: fresh milk, bottled on the farm and delivered to customers the same day.

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A family business in every sense

While Jess may have been the one to bring the original idea home, Dreamview has become a true family operation, with each member bringing their own skills to the business.

Jess now manages the farm, her mother, Bronwyn, is heavily involved in the management of the creamery, product development and production which is where she excels! With yoghurt becoming one of the business's popular offerings.

David remains closely involved by overseeing the farm and the wider operation, while also building the wooden crates used to transport the milk. Jess's siblings have also played their part. Her brother, Matt, is a structural engineer and was involved in designing the creamery, while sister, Kathy who used to manage the farm, now works with Halter.

Even the business structure reflects that family ownership, with the three children also shareholders in Dreamview.

And then there is Mia! Having joined Dreamview around four years ago, Mia initially stepped into a varied role covering sales, social media and administration. As the business continued to grow, her role evolved into Operations Manager, overseeing everything from accounts and systems to social media and day-to-day operations.

For someone who didn't come from an accounting background, learning the financial side of a growing dairy business has been a steep learning curve.

It is also where the relationship with MBS Advisors has become particularly valuable.

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Having the right people alongside you

MBS Advisors has been involved with the Hill family for more than a decade, originally working with Hillcrest Farm before Dreamview was formally established as a separate company in 2021.

As the business evolved from a dairy farm into a specialised niche creamery and growing direct-to-consumer and wholesale operation, its financial and operational needs evolved too.

MBS Advisors has supported the family through that journey, including business structuring, tax and compliance, as well as the transition to new software and systems.

“I’m a massive perfectionist,” says Mia.

“We're trying to work together to make it efficient for both of us, so that if I'm doing things better, from a bookkeeping point of view, that when it gets passed on, it's way faster and easier for MBS Advisors on their end.”

For Mia, the value of the relationship is of most importance.

“That's where Liam is great because he's so accessible, I am able to easily ask him when I'm unsure,"

“I want to know what's wrong so I know how to fix it from step A, rather than waiting until year end when he does the books." she says.

That communication has helped Mia improve the systems on her side of the business, while making the accounting process more efficient when information reaches her MBS Advisor, and for Liam, that is exactly what a good advisory relationship should look like.

"It isn't simply about preparing the accounts at the end of the year. It is about working alongside a business as it changes and helping the people running it make better decisions along the way." says Liam Crean, Associate Director of MBS Advisors.

"We have been honoured to support Hillcrest Farm and Dreamview Creamery and be a part of their journey."

And with two connected business entities, growing customer base and increasingly sophisticated systems, having that relationship in place has become an important part of the business's journey.

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What's next for Dreamview?

After a decade of growth, Dreamview is reaching an exciting point.

"Now the business is actually in more demand of the farm. It used to be the other way around," Mia explains.

"The farm was producing way more than Dreamview was handling with the extra going to Fonterra. Now, Dreamview is demanding more and growing, we haven’t supplied Fonterra in about three years.”

For now, the focus is on making the most of what is already there. Maximising production from the existing herd, making better use of technology, continuing to improve systems and exploring new opportunities.

But, as with every other decision, the family is taking its time to make sure any expansion fits the business rather than changing what the business is and this is what has made Dreamview successful.

A good idea, a willingness to give it a go, a family prepared to work together, and a determination to keep doing things their own way.

From those first bottles filled in a shipping container to the milk now travelling across local regions, Dreamview has come a long way, and if the last ten years are anything to go by, there is plenty more to come. At Dreamview it is about a fresh, quality product, about the glass bottles, the local production, sustainability and doing things a little differently. Delivering fresh milk, cream and yoghurt from the hills above Raglan to customers across the Waikato, Auckland and the Bay of Plenty.

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