Pembrokeshire Creamery has officially launched its cutting-edge milk processing facility in Haverfordwest, marking a significant milestone in its mission to bring ‘fully Welsh’ milk to consumers.

Launching on July 2, the dairy is the only BRCGS-accredited liquid milk facility in Wales, meaning it is the only facility able to supply major retailers in Wales with Welsh milk.

By removing the need for Welsh milk to be transported to bottling plants in England, Pembrokeshire Creamery is reducing food miles, increasing supply chain efficiency, creating new skilled jobs, and supporting local farming communities.

Pembrokeshire Creamery, which has created around 80 new jobs, has the capacity to bottle more than a million litres of milk a week and has recently announced major deals to supply own-branded milk to Asda and Lidl stores across Wales. When the dairy reaches full capacity, it will be able to supply around 2 million litres of milk a week.

The new Pembrokeshire Creamery site
The new Pembrokeshire Creamery site (Pic supplied)

The development of Pembrokeshire Creamery was initially supported by the Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire County Council when they formed a joint venture to create the Pembrokeshire Food Park.

This was instrumental as it created the plots and infrastructure required (drainage, water, and power) for Pembrokeshire Creamery to locate its new state-of-the-art dairy.

Pembrokeshire Creamery MD Mark McQuade
Pembrokeshire Creamery MD Mark McQuade speaking at the official opening event on July 2 (Pic supplied)

Subsequent Welsh Government support was awarded with £5 million grant funding through the Food Business Investment Scheme and an additional £1.4 million of grant funding from the Food Business Accelerator Scheme.

Funding support has also been provided by HSBC and to date, nearly £20 million has been invested in the site to process high-quality Welsh milk that is farmed, bottled, and sold in Wales.

default
At the heart of Pembrokeshire Creamery’s mission lies a commitment to sourcing 100% of its milk from Welsh cows, reducing food miles, and supporting local farming communities. (Pic supplied)

Commenting on the opening, Mark McQuade, managing director of Pembrokeshire Creamery Ltd said: “This has been a great opportunity to celebrate our early successes and all that means for the people that we’ve employed and the dairy farmers who we work with.

“We are already committing to more investment and increasing our capacity - and we would like to thank all of the people locally, our staff and suppliers, who have supported us as we’ve built and opened our new state-of-the-art facility.”