Milk co-op secures 5.5m-pint contract

By John Burns

PENINSULA Milk, a farmers co-op set up less than a year ago, has just won a contract to supply 5.5 million pints of milk a year to another co-op comprising retailers Plymouth and South Devon Co-op (Plymco) and Normans.

The new contract doubles throughput at the Okehampton plant and, with other contracts in the pipeline, Peninsula is looking for new members to join this autumn.

Managing director, Geoff Lawrence, says that an extra 20-30m litres will be needed by then. An extra bottling line has already been installed to give absolute security of supply and to cope with increased demand.

Peninsula now sells some 50 products, runs 10 lorries, and has regularly taken on extra staff. The Plymco contract alone created about 18 new jobs at Peninsula.

Mr Lawrence denies suggestions that he is undercutting other suppliers.

“We get our business through service and quality. We have had approaches from big companies all over the country,” he says.