Wyke Farms is entering the organic cheese sector after parting with The Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative (OMSCo).
Their new joint venture is to be called The British Organic Dairy Company, and is expected to be a bit of a tonic against Brexit in the cheese industry.
Struggling cheese sales
The organic dairy sector has been underperforming when compared to the dairy sector as a whole, and the team behind The British Organic Dairy Company are determined to change that. They think they have come up with a formula which will take care of some open opportunities in the sector, as well as helping the industry to push forward past the uncertainty of Brexit. It will certainly be good news for cheese manufacturing jobs.
“This collaboration will create a solid platform to grow sales of organic dairy products and allow it to reach its potential in a growing world market, now and post-Brexit,” says Richard Clothier, managing director of the new company. “This alliance brings together quality and excellence in organic dairy production, from the world’s second largest 100% organic milk producer combined with award winning cheddar quality from Wyke Farms – it really is a world beating collaboration.”
Wyke Farms will be sourcing all of their milk requirements to make their new organic cheese products from OMSCo as part of the terms of the collaboration.
In turn, OMSCo will increase their range of cheeses for export markets and will also take a share in the ownership of cheddar stocks, giving them a percentage of the sales from domestic and export markets. It ties the two companies together closely, and means they will be both be heavily invested in the future of their organic cheeses.
“The partnership, within which we both have an equal share, provides us with a focus to grow organic dairy opportunities together,” says Richard Hampton, managing director for OMSCo. “The launch of our business-to-business brand is an exciting development and will enable us to facilitate the sales and marketing of our products under a joint brand identity.”
High quality cheese
The goal of the partnership is to produce a guaranteed supply of organic dairy products across the globe, which will offer high quality and good value. Wyke Farms and OMSCo will be integrating vertically in order to make this happen.
“By working with Wyke Farms we can provide a unique proposition to distributors and retailers and take advantage of growing markets,” adds Hampton.
The current organic cheese output of Wyke Farms and OMSCo is over 1,000t, according to figures from last year. It is expected that the new partnership will more than treble that output. There is no word yet on how many new food jobs will be created as they move forward with their plans, but it is certain to be a good amount, particularly if the venture is a commercially successful one.
The firms will be looking to target sales both in the US and the EU, and they appear to be forging ahead with no concerns about how the trading market will look after the curtain comes down on Brexit. They have a positive outlook on the future of organic cheese, believing that it could soon come to figure more highly in the overall sector.
Cheese is certainly an area in which there has been a lot of development lately, particularly in specialist areas. Organic cheeses, vegan cheeses, and even protein-high cheeses with low fat content have been developed and produced in recent memory, with many more following on their tails. This is a real boom era for cheese development.
