News

Trewithen Dairy has announced plans for an additional £3 million expansion for their Lostwithiel based dairy, plus the creation of new jobs.

The company is now the third largest direct buyer of milk in Cornwall, delivering between 80,000 and 120,000 litres of milk per day.

Sheryll Murray, MP, attended a ceremony with owner Bill Clarke on Friday 12th April to mark the start of construction work at Trewithen Dairy. This consturction marks the final stage of a four-year development which totals £11.4 million and is due to be completed by November.
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Half of the development costs (£5.7 million) has been funded by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). To date the investment programme has allowed 33 jobs to be created and the dairy now employs 113 full-time staff, with an aim to employ 120 by 2014.

Trewithen's commercial director Francis Clarke said: "The expansion so far has more than delivered the expected results. We're on target for increasing our milk production levels still further in 2013 and 2014, and have seen healthy sales increases year on year.

"Having the input of the RDPE has been vital for us. At a time when the dairy industry's facing difficult challenges, such as rising milk production costs and a recessive climate, we're remaining strong and striving to deliver a competitive premium for farmers."

As well as the serious aspect of  expanding their business, Trewithen Dairy still find time to have some fun. They have produced a video of  farmer  Peter Blake identifying five of his cows by feeling their udders and hind legs while blind folded.

 Mr Blake, who runs Stone Farm near Whitsand Bay, said: "I would generally swear blind that I know each of my cows apart from one another but I've never tried to identify them by touch alone before. "When I was put on the spot like that it was actually quite nerve-wracking but I'm glad that I managed to do it in the end."

Mr Blake's pedigree herd of 220 Friesian-Holstein produce 6,000 litres of milk a day for Trewithen Dairy. Francis Clarke, commercial director at Trewithen Dairy, said: "The videos were intended to be light-hearted, but they do embody a serious message. At Trewithen we understand the importance of communicating to customers the journey our products make from field to fridge and we know that social media is a great way to engage with people."