Lye Cross Farm gains finance for tonnage increase

Lye Cross Farm (Alvis Brothers) in the UK has secured a finance package from HSBC Bank to help its increase its cheddar cheese production by 1,000 tonnes a year to 4,500 tonnes in order to meet growing demand. The company is a third generation family business that sells its cheese into supermarkets such as Sainsburys, Asda and Ocado, as well as into 30 overseas markets.

The expansion includes investing in upgrading its milking parlour facility. It now has the capacity to milk 600 cows, up from 400 previously, and the new financing will enable the company to upscale this to 900 when required.

In addition, the company has upgraded its packing facility, adding a new packing line and increasing its ability to pack 20g to 40g mini cheese portions. The expanded facility will enable Alvis Brothers to double packing capacity from 80,000 units to 160,000 a day.

Turnover at the company hit £25 million (€29.7m) in 2012, with 25% of sales going to overseas markets, including Korea, the US, Dubai, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and a number of European countries. In the UK, the company sells through its own farm shop and through major supermarkets.

Managing director Peter Alvis notes, “Our aim is to grow both turnover and profitability over the next 18 months, and opening up new international markets will be key to that.”