After a brief meeting at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show in August BV Dairy invited Simon Hoare MP to visit their production facility in Shaftesbury. As Vice Chair of the Dairy All-Party Parliamentary Committee BV Dairy felt that it is important for Simon to have a view of the complicated dairy industry through the eye of a processor.

BV Dairy was established in 1958 and has grown to become one of the largest dairies in the south west of England and a widely respected independent manufacturer of high quality dairy products that are used throughout the UK in the manufacturing and food service industries. With an annual turnover of £33 million and employing almost 100 skilled personnel BV Dairy is a key player in the industry nationally and locally they contribute £10 million per annum to the farming community by sourcing milk from local accredited farms. Conscious that the volatility of the global dairy market has a serious impact on these local dairy farms BV Dairy focuses on forging strong, long lasting relationships with them and works hard to try to minimise the impact of these market changes throughout their supply chain.

During his visit Simon enjoyed a tour of the production halls (seen here on the left with Operations Director, Wojciech Gorzen) to see how BV Dairy use both traditional techniques and modern technology to transform high quality local milk into the wide range of premium specification dairy products. He also saw how BV Dairy plan to invest in additional facilities to accommodate more capacity, increase efficiency and improve customer services – all with consideration to minimise any environmental impact and support sustainability.