An exciting new business is soon to launch in Pembrokeshire - the first of its kind in the county - in the form of Simply Milk Vending.

Nick Roch of Kilanow Farm, Stepaside, is the driving force behind the venture, which invites consumers to collect their milk from their local farmer, thereby reducing food miles and supporting local food suppliers, a factor increasingly fuelling the consumer decision making process when it comes to retail behaviours.

The growth of ‘Raw Milk’ in the UK has long since been documented - the growth of milk which is not subjected to any of the traditional process of the majority of the milk currently consumed in the UK. Simply Milk, by contrast, is pasturised Whole Milk, a process which safeguards the product for human consumption, but in a way which is pasturised by batches, thereby maintaining the taste of the raw material.

In the 1960s, largely driven by the growth of the multiple retail sector with bulk buying tendencies and demanding cheaper milk for their customers, the temperature at which milk was pasturised rose steeply so as to speed up the process. The result greatly reduced the taste and quality of the milk. Batch milk pasturisation is a process whereby milk is heated to a significantly reduced temperature over a longer period, long enough to kill off all of the pathogens, but yielding a milk wonderfully rich in flavour where the creamy taste of the raw milk is barely affected.

The Simply Milk business model is exactly that. Simple. The site in Kilanow Farm will house a milk vending unit and machine, where visitors will be invited to purchase their reusable glass bottle, vend their litre of milk for £1, safe in the knowledge that their milk is fresh and that their money will go directly to the farmer, affording him the resources to keep his herd in the most natural of environments which will in turn lead to happy cows, great tasting milk. It is a fully sustainable model.

Nick Roch is also passionate about the sanitisation arm of his venture, one not adopted by all milk vendors - raw milk or otherwise. On site, Nick has commissioned a unit which will sanitise the bottles before purchase, ready for life-long use, helping to ensure the safety of his product. His is a technology Nick is keen to share with local farmers in a bid to grow this market segment of directly sourced produce.

Nick comments: “We have been through an extensive process to get us to this point, and I am keen to share my experiences with local suppliers. We have the facility to supply local farmers with external units, easily situated on any farm type, which can house sanitisation facilities or ‘Clean Rooms’ which will suit the dairy industry on a whole (including creams, cheeses etc) in addition to meat suppliers. Farmers can operate in a manner which reassures both the Envrionmental Health departments and end consumers of their produce.”

Further sites in the greater Narberth region are currently being investigated, and Nick’s vision for the future of Simply Milk is to extend the proposition into unmanned shops, retailing a variety of fresh produce.

For further information on the imminent launch of Simply Milk to the public, members of the public are invited to contact Nick on 07887 611263.