First Minister the Rt. Hon Carwyn Jones AM was in Whitland recently to officially open the Proper Welsh Dairy, the first dairy in Wales in 75 years that will send some of the finest milk in Europe from the heart of Carmarthenshire to homes across Wales in the most environmentally friendly fashion.
The Dairy is a £1.5m investment on the site of the former Whitland Creamery and is hoping to process and bottle up to 10m litres of milk a year from local Welsh farmers at source, getting from cow to customer within 24 hours. Significantly, it will also create and safeguard Welsh jobs, and cut down the average distance the milk currently travels from farm to shelf by an average of 360 miles, greatly reducing the product’s carbon ‘hoofprint’.
Launching the Dairy, the First Miinister said: “The opening of the new Proper Welsh Dairy is a great vote of confidence in local farming across West Wales. In Wales we are milk producers, but we also need to be milk processors as well. In the past we’ve seen this dairy process leaving Wales, so it gives me great pleasure to open this creamery and to see that dairy farming and dairy processing have a vibrant future in Wales. I wish Proper Welsh every success.”
West Wales’ credentials for producing milk are second to none, given the climate, the quality of the grass and the fact that Welsh cows live outdoors longer than any other cows in the UK. Wales is a natural milk producer but has lacked the facilities to process the milk, sending it out of Wales on a journey to be processed before returning to the shelves. Working closely with partners Calon Wen, the new Proper Welsh Dairy will process milk from local farms so that Welsh customers receive the freshest possible 100% Welsh product with a fantastic taste.
Addressing an audience of stakeholders and local farmers, Proper Welsh Chairman Peter Humphreys said: “We are so pleased to welcome the First Minster to open the first Welsh dairy in a generation. It’s great to see representatives from Tesco here as well, and we thank them for their great support in stores throughout Wales. This is a great start, and we’ll be looking to exapnd our range of products as the business grows.”
At present, most Welsh milk travels out of Wales to be processed in ‘super’ dairies across the border. Whitland is the original home of Welsh milk, and was at the centre of Europe’s largest milk field after WWII before the decline of the industry, and now Proper Welsh has teamed up with Welsh farmers’ co-operative Calon Wen, who will bottle their own organic milk at the Dairy, to bring the whole process back to its Welsh homeland to ensure the freshest possible milk with the longest potential shelf life.
The Dairy will create an initial 14 jobs, rising to more than 40 in the coming years as the business develops, in addition to helping to safeguard work for dairy famers in the surrounding area.
Proper Welsh Milk is available in over 50 Tesco stores throughout Wales, with other independent and local retailers coming on board in the near future. Proper Welsh Milk will not be homogenised, giving it a richer, smoother, more old fashioned taste with the creamy top of the milk, evoking the taste of proper milk as it used to be. There are plans also to process cream at the Dairy in due course.
Mark Grant, Senior Buyer for Tesco said: “It’s rewarding to be able to work closely with Proper Welsh Milk to help them develop and grow by offering technical advice through-out the launch process. We’re proud to be able to offer our Tesco customers across Wales real Welsh milk that is produced and bottled in Wales.”
The company also launched in North Wales this spring, using an existing dairy at South Caernarfon Creameries. Calon Wen is a co-operative of 25 family farms across Wales, and has shares in the business along with Triodos Bank in Bristol, which is part of a Dutch ethical bank, and Finance Wales has also provided a loan to the company.
Website: www.properwelsh.com
