Wyke Farms, a UK-based independent milk processor, and The Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative (OMSCo), a producer of organic milk and organic cheese exporter based in the UK, partnered to expand organic cheese production, distribution and sales.
Wyke Farms and OMSCo plan to more than treble their already extensive range of organic cheese amounting to over 1,000 tons last year. The new arrangement will see Wyke Farms sourcing all milk requirements for organic cheese production from OMSCo, whilst OMSCo will increase its range of specialist organic cheese made by Wyke Farms for export markets and take a share in the ownership of bulk cheddar stocks for a portion of domestic and export sales.
The additional milk will allow Wyke Farms and OMSCo to capitalize on the growth of the organic market on a global scale to EU and USDA spec, something previously unattainable due to restricted milk supplies.
“This arrangement means that Wyke and OMSCo have a fit for the future vehicle to supply the best quality organic cheddars to the world market,” says Rich Clothier, managing director at Wyke Farms. “Our combined scale and efficiency makes us the logical supply partners for organic cheddar. It gives us the capacity and milk supply necessary to expand organic cheese production rapidly. It also gives us access to OMSCo’s different milk types to produce organic cheddar with different attributes and with access to different markets. It will complement our existing business, which currently produces over 14,000 tons of cheddar annually, entirely from our own source of renewable energy.”
“OMSCo has for a long time supplied raw milk to Wyke for organic cheesemaking, and Wyke Farms have also produced organic cheese, skimmed milk and butter on our behalf using our specialist milk types for markets such as the U.S., where we have a unique accreditation and access,” adds Richard Hampton, OMSCo’s managing director. “This new chapter presents an exciting opportunity to drive our joint business together, supporting the development of cheese stocks as well as allowing us to further develop our supplies of UK organic whey for use in our rapidly expanding specialist ingredients business. This is an example of OMSCO working more closely with our markets and end users of organic products across the globe.”
Wyke Farms sells over 14,000 tons annually to 160 countries around the world.