OUT OF PLASTIC project
As many of you will already know, we are passionate about our objective to get our yoghurt and cream out of plastic and into glass. Not glass that goes into recycling but glass that is returned to us to be washed and re-used, just like our milk bottles – true recycling.
As with most things, this is not as simple as it first sounds. The storage and washing of all that glass requires considerable space. In addition, the present dairy space hasn’t changed in decades despite having more than doubled its output as the business has grown.
So, the introduction of glass throws up many possibilities and of course endless conundrums of how to best reorganise the dairy to achieve a workable outcome that improves the current dairy and also allows for the implementation of using glass.
Behind the shop and dairy is a lovely old farm building that has been empty for years, waiting for the right use to come along. How to best use this space has been a hotly debated subject for as long as I can remember, but finally we have a real need and so we have now agreed that the dairy will move some of its production into there. Cheese making, which has always shared the existing dairy space with yoghurt, cream and kefir production, will inhabit part of the new space, looking out over the cow yard, and therefore allowing space in the existing dairy for washing facilities for the new glass yoghurt pots.
As always, when a system is redesigned the aim is to really get it right, to get the flow of production just so, to think everything through to the nth degree, but of course when you are adapting an existing building, compromises have to be made. This is our challenge right now; to feel we have thought of everything and have found the best possible solution.
Our architect, Nick Pople, is working on drawings, and Tali, our dairy manager, is working on the specialist detail, including suitable washing equipment, glassware, what type of lids, direction of milk flow from the milking parlour…and much, much more.
We are working on costs, which will include rebuilding the existing, near-derelict, building, as well as funding new equipment and the reworking of our existing dairy. We’re estimating the total project cost will be around £400,000. Pretty big stuff, but step-by-step it’s coming together.
Realising a project like this requires considerable fundraising. Our first step, and as a commitment to the project, we have added 10p to every yoghurt and cream sold in the shop that is currently sold in plastic.