Welsh defend creamery against Crest
31 May 2001
Welsh defend creamery against Crest
By Robert Davies, Wales correspondent
MILK producers in south-west Wales are continuing a campaign to prevent Dairy Crest from buying their local creamery.
The planned sale and the possible loss of 75 jobs at Aeron Valley Cheese is a prominent topic on the election trail.
Most producers want the co-operative First Milk to take over the plant, said Lewis Griffith, the Farmers Union of Waless executive officer for Ceredigion.
“Nobody trusts Dairy Crest after it closed so many Welsh processing plants.
“Most people believe the company intends to buy the plant and close it, even though 1.8 million of public money has been invested.”
Mr Griffith said Dairy Crest could write off Aeron Valleys losses and repay 750,000 of grant money that the Welsh National Assembly was likely to reclaim.
Farmers understood the legal obligation to get the best possible return for the plant but wanted to retain value-adding processing in the area, he added.
Mr Griffith said a Dairy Crest pledge that Aeron Valley would feature prominently in operational investment plans fell far short of the guarantee wanted.
But Tom Jones, an Anglesey farmer who sits on Dairy Crests board of directors, said he could see no reason to stop production if it was profitable.
Farmers were being unduly pessimistic, he said.
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