New plans to help satisfy the increasing demand for Welsh milk were warmly welcomed today by Farmers’ Union of Wales milk and dairy produce committee chairman Eifion Huws.
The Anglesey dairy farmer described Tomlinson’s Dairies expansion of its factory at Minera, near Wrexham, as “excellent news”.
“I am heartened to learn that increased demand for Welsh milk is behind Tomlinson’s decision to build a 70,000 sq ft unit at their existing factory to double their annual processing capacity to 50 million litres from next summer and, hopefully, create 80 new jobs within five years.
“It should provide a secure outlet for milk from farmers in the region in the future and also help to cut food miles which is the main aim of the FUW’s long-running ‘Buy The Welsh One’ awareness campaign.”
But Mr Huws warned that Tomlinson’s must establish a reliable market to avoid competing with the likes of Arla and Dairy Crest and start under-cutting farmgate prices.
“Milk prices are quite buoyant at the moment but we must remember that prices in the UK are still lower than on mainland Europe,” Mr Huws added.
