Milk Link was a large

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

company in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was the UK's largest dairy

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

and the UK's largest producer of

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

. In 2012 the company merged with

Arla Foods Arla Foods is a Danish-Swedish multinational co-operative based in Viby, Denmark. It is the fifth biggest dairy company in the world and the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia and United Kingdom. Arla Foods was formed as the re ...

History

It was formed in April 2000 as one of three successor co-operatives to

Milk Marque Milk Marque was a British dairy industry co-operative that was the successor to the Milk Marketing Board. At one point, Milk Marque controlled over half of the UK market for raw milk. In 2000, Milk Marque's activities were split into three separ ...

. Milk Marque was broken up after the

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

queried how it set milk prices. In July 2002, the company bought the

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

and

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire. His ...

creameries from

Express Dairies Express Dairies is a former brand of Dairy Crest, that specialised almost entirely in home deliveries of milk, and other dairy products. History The company was founded by George Barham in 1864 as the 'Express County Milk Supply Company,' so na ...

for £33.1 million, both of which make

UHT milk Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT), ultra-heat treatment, or ultra-pasteurization is a food processing technology that sterilizes liquid food by heating it above – the temperature required to kill bacterial endospores – for two ...

. It also bought out the 50% of joint-venture partner Express Dairies in the creamery at

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

. The Crediton operations were later sold in a management buyout. In February 2004 it set up The Cheese Company with

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

-based

Glanbia Glanbia plc ( ) is an Irish multinational nutrition company that owns several consumer brands that produce products such as food supplements and ingredients businesses. Glanbia is headquartered in Kilkenny, Ireland with over 5,500 employees in ov ...

, which had four cheese production sites and a packing facility supplying major retailers in the UK, in which it took a 75% stake. In December 2006 it bought out Glanbia for £47.2 million. In July 2005 it closed a site at

Sible Hedingham Sible Hedingham ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the River Colne, Essex, Colne Valley in the Braintree (district), Braintree District of Essex, in England. It has a population of 3,994 according to the 2011 census. Sible Hedingham li ...

. From October 2007 to February 2008 there were talks to merge with First Milk. In August 2011 it split into two divisions named 'Milk Link, Cheese' and 'Milk Link, Milk'. In September 2011 it announced that it would increase the size of the

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, ) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, located in south-western Scotland. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town had an estimated population of in . The town came to international attention in December 1988 when ...

creamery by 50% to produce 37,000 tonnes of cheese a year, into a UK market which consumes 600,000 tonnes of cheese a year. In 2012 the company merged with Arla Foods.

Products

Each year it handles around 1.5 billion litres of milk. It makes the chocolate-flavoured milk under licence for the ''

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

'' and ''

Galaxy A galaxy is a Physical system, system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', ...

'' brand.

Cheeses

* Cheddar * Stilton * Cheshire * Red Leicester * Cheshire * Double Gloucester * Lancashire * Wensleydale * Caerphilly * Cornish Brie * Cornish Camembert * Shropshire Blue It exports cheese to 19 countries.

Structure

Creameries

Dairy - sold April 2013 in a management buyout which trades as Crediton Dairy Limited. *

Llandyrnog Llandyrnog is a large village and community in Denbighshire, Wales lying in the valley of the River Clwyd, about from Denbigh and from Ruthin. The village has good road links to Denbigh and the main A541 road at Bodfari, and is served by buse ...

, north Wales (Now mothballed) *

(cheddar cheese) - the largest dairy plant in Scotland, off the A709 near the

River Annan The River Annan is a river in south-west Scotland. It rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub, Moffat and Lockerbie, reaching the sea at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway after about 40 miles. Name The etymology of the R ...

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a market town in the Borough of Melton, Melton district in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, Leicestershire, River Eye, known below Melton as the Rive ...

* Taw Valley CreameryTaw Valley Creamery
/ref> * Trevarrian

References

{{reflist

External links

Milk Link Foodservice

British Cheese Board

Video clips

Milk Link YouTube channel

Corporate video

News items

Lockerbie plant in November 2011

Lockerbie expansion in September 2011

North Wales cheese plant in October 2009

Buying north Wales cheese plant in June 2009

Plans to close Scottish dairy in May 2009
Dairy products companies of the United Kingdom Co-operatives in the United Kingdom Food and drink companies established in 2000 2000 establishments in the United Kingdom South Gloucestershire District Companies based in Gloucestershire