Smaller and perfectly formed

In between the calls by various governments to drop milk output, there have been encouraging shoots of innovation and recovery at the local level with milk. For example, an article on a fellow dairy website discusses how the 1871 Dairy in Chicago is bringing the idea of micro dairy into the public realm. Meanwhile, the Our Cow Molly Dairy in Sheffield here in the UK has recently won the BBC Food and Farming Award.

They share the idea that smaller is better and more profitable, and are using family farms to develop another way to make dairy farming work for them. And there are more examples globally, where farmers and marketers have woken up to the idea that people want to enjoy local products where they are.

Perhaps a study at the overwhelming success of microbreweries can provide dairy with a blueprint for success, by using milk’s strength as a selling point. Instead of making endless batches of powder, delineating and making the milk special at the source will provide security and further success.

I point to my local Greenwich UK brewery, Greenwich Meantime, as another example. It started life locally, and has now been purchased by ABInBev, the brewing giant. So far, the larger brewer has wisely not tampered with the success of the smaller. No doubt, we will see more of this in dairy as well – local products for local people, and then shared more widely.

In the meantime, when you travel, seek it out. There are local cheese makers, and ice cream makers, and milk and yogurt makers wherever you go. Hunt them down and support the little dairies that will make a difference to this industry. I assume you’re all doing that already, but it’s worth it in the end and will save the little guys, where all the innovation is happening, for us all.