Case study – Rhys Lougher

Rhys Lougher of Ty Tanglwyst Dairy, Bridgend, made the most of his training opportunities and has added value to the family business by setting up a pasteurising plant on the farm to sell milk to local customers.

The dairy now sells fresh milk and cream which is distributed by local milkmen, restaurants, pubs, golf courses, cafes, care homes and a local specialist ice cream manufacturer.

Rhys took Foundation courses in Food Hygiene, Dairy Hygiene, Cheesemaking and On-Farm Processing and Marketing of Organic Milk, supported by Lantra’s Skill Support project. This gave him the skills he needed to expand his family’s business.

Rhys briefly considered introducing cheese-making and ice-cream manufacture to the dairy, but decided to opt for bottled milk after a visit to Bavaria with Future Farmers of Wales in 2004.

"We are unique in our marketplace, as there’s no other small dairy around here doing this."

"We visited a small poultry farm and saw that the farmer had added value to his eggs by establishing an egg noodles business," says Rhys. "There were lots of common factors about market, location and quality that spurred me into thinking we could do the same with our milk. We would be unique in our marketplace, as there’s no other small dairy around here doing this."

"We know our milk is better. One shopkeeper stocked ours and another (cheaper) brand, but it was ours that sold. And his sales of papers and sweets went up too. It says it all."

Rhys’ entrepreneurial spirit won him the FG/Waitrose Best Young Farmer Producer award for 2007.