First Milk has today announced that it has completed the acquisition of BV Dairy (Blackmore Vale Farm Cream Limited).
BV Dairy is a successful manufacturer of specialist chilled dairy products based in Dorset. It services customers throughout England, Wales and Scotland, offering a comprehensive end-to-end solution to customers across food manufacturing and food service, as well as offering co-manufacturing to exciting growth markets such as the home meal solutions and gut health sectors, offering considerable opportunities for the future.
Commenting on the announcement, Shelagh Hancock, Chief Executive of First Milk, said, “I am delighted to complete the acquisition of BV Dairy, a successful family-owned business, which shares many common values with First Milk – a focus on people and community, environmental performance, exceptional quality and long-term value creation. We look forward to welcoming the wider BV Dairy family into our First Milk family.
“The BV Dairy business has strong customer relationships and a reputation for quality and service across food manufacture and food service. This provides a genuine extension to our business, extending our manufacturing and market reach, offering a platform for the further growth and development of our business.”
First Milk is a British farmer-owned co-operative that is a Certified B Corporation, with a vision of enriching life every day to secure the future. It’s owned by around 700 farming families spread across Britain. It’s also Britain’s first regenerative dairy. The company says that “Regeneration is a way of thinking. For us, it’s about having a positive impact on the world we live in, whilst producing nutritious, tasty dairy products to feed a growing population. As a co-operative business, this starts with our farmers, who follow regenerative farming practices. But it is so much more than that – regenerative thinking extends throughout our business, through our colleagues and our external relationships, resulting in a shared commitment to nourishing the earth and future generations.”
First Milk farmer director and vice-chairman, Mike Smith, said, “This purchase builds on the existing strengths of First Milk and will bring wider benefits, adding value for our members whilst creating opportunities for our colleagues and enabling us to extend our regenerative positioning into a broader range of dairy products and customers. This is a great step forward as we work together to secure the future.”
BV Dairy was established in 1958 and is now run by the third generation of the Highnam family. It started out as a manufacturer of farmhouse clotted cream, and the business has developed into a modern, well-equipped production facility. BV Dairy employs more than 160 colleagues and is based on the edge of North Dorset’s Blackmore Vale. The business works with dedicated dairy farmer suppliers within a 30-mile radius to source high quality, local milk.
Jim Highnam, Managing Director of BV Dairy, said, “Having made the decision to sell the business, we wanted to ensure that the new owners would provide a secure future for our customers, colleagues, farmers and suppliers. As such, I’m pleased to finalise this transaction and see BV Dairy become part of First Milk, as both businesses share a down-to-earth, pragmatic approach, balancing the needs of all stakeholders. I look forward to working with our new First Milk colleagues to continue to grow and develop BV Dairy.”