Cotteswold Dairy marks 25 years supplying Welsh nurseries
Cotteswold Dairy is marking a quarter-century of supplying fresh milk to nurseries in Wales. The family-run business operates a depot in North Wales and works with Cool Milk, which provides milk to schools and nurseries across the UK.
Cool Milk administers the Nursery Milk Scheme, under which children younger than five receive milk free of charge. It also manages the related paperwork and reimbursement for nurseries. Danny Wright, Cotteswold Dairy’s marketing manager, described the service as providing nutritional, public-health, financial, economic and educational benefits.
The dairy delivers milk to thousands of children in Welsh nurseries each week. Some 58% of the milk supplied to Welsh settings comes from farms in Wales that serve the company’s Conwy depot. The rest is sourced through dairies in Shrewsbury and Hereford, which process milk produced on both sides of the Welsh border.
Cotteswold Dairy was established in 1938 by Harry Workman. Its first operation was a small milk round delivering 30 gallons a day with a bucket and ladle. The company has since expanded to become one of the largest independent dairies operating in England and Wales.
Wright said the nursery deliveries helped the dairy maintain links with schools and communities around its depots. Cotteswold has also supplied products for school fundraising when requested and conducted visits to schools to discuss milk’s role in children’s diets, the journey from farm to customer and dairy processing. The company says its delivery team aims to maintain high service standards.
The partnership has continued during periods identified by the companies as difficult for families, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and recent heatwaves. Mike Ferrand, Cool Milk’s managing director, said the organisation was founded by a dairy farmer and had therefore prioritised links between farms, dairies and young milk drinkers. He added that parents valued milk being supplied by a local dairy whose sales supported farms and were treated fairly.
