Pembrokeshire Creamery has officially opened, creating 80 new jobs and expecting to bottle more than a million litres of milk each week.
The development of Pembrokeshire Creamery was initially supported by the Welsh government and Pembrokeshire County Council when they formed a joint venture to create the Pembrokeshire Food Park.
Subsequent Welsh government support was awarded with £5 million grant funding through the Food Business Investment Scheme and an additional £1.4 million of grant funding from the Food Business Accelerator Scheme.
Additional funding has been provided by HSBC Bank and, to date, nearly £20 million has been invested in the Haverfordwest site to process Welsh milk that is farmed, bottled and sold in Wales.
Managing director of Pembrokeshire Creamery Ltd, Mark McQuade, said: “This has been a great opportunity to celebrate our early successes and all that means for the people that we’ve employed and the dairy farmers who we work with.
“We’re creating new markets with major retailers for authentic Welsh milk which in turn is helping us complete our mission to deliver sustainably sourced Welsh milk, bottled right here in Wales while offering a fair and transparent price to farmers.
“We are already committing to more investment and increasing our capacity – and we would like to thank all of the people locally, our staff and suppliers, who have supported us as we’ve built and opened our new state-of-the-art facility,” he said.
“This commitment is part of our vision for achieving growth and productivity improvement which benefits the workforce, people and society. It also supports the industry to reach high levels of sustainability, raising the Food and Drink industry’s reputation in Wales, the UK and overseas,” he said.
Pembrokeshire Creamery
In May, Lidl GB became the first retailer to sign a contract with Pembrokeshire Creamery to sell milk produced and bottled in Wales.
From June 1, 2024, all Lidl own-brand milk sold in its Welsh stores has been produced on Welsh farms and bottled at Pembrokeshire Creamery.
Welsh milk had previously been bottled in factories in England before being transported back to Wales to be sold in stores.
Since then, Pembrokeshire Creamery has also signed a deal with Welsh Asda.
Welsh cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, said: “I am delighted that the new Pembrokeshire Creamery has started processing Welsh milk for Lidl and Asda.
“This new facility, supported by Welsh government Rural Development investment underlines the commitment of the Welsh government to the dairy sector in Wales.
“This investment ensures that milk which previously had to be transported to England is now processed in Wales. As a result, Welsh consumers will now be able to buy Welsh milk, produced in Wales.”
When the dairy reaches full capacity, it will be able to supply around 2 million litres of milk a week, Pembrokeshire Creamery said.