Dairy Crest closes Proper Welsh Milk dairy in Carmarthenshire

UK-headquartered Dairy Crest has closed its Proper Welsh Milk dairy in Whitland, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

The closure comes after a consultation process with employees and representatives.

The company stated that lower sales and higher costs have made it impossible to operate the creamery economically.

Production volumes have fallen short of expectations and substantial investments were needed to bring the site up to the company’s standards.

Dairy Crest earlier owned the Whitland creamery, and shut the plant in 1994.

In 2011, Proper Welsh Milk invested £1.5m to reopen the dairy site, in line with its efforts to cater to the needs of Welsh consumers.

The company installed milk processing equipment at the site and commenced bottling Welsh milk in October 2011; however, it faced financial problems and in March last year Dairy Crest acquired the facility with the aim of maintaining production and employment and developing new products at the site.

In other news, Dairy Crest has agreed to sell its Nine Elms residential and middle-ground milk depot (Nine Elms) for £17.6m in cash, which will provide it with £15m in profits.

For the nine months ended 31 December 2013, sales of Dairy Crest’s four key brands – Cathedral City, Country Life, Clover and Frijj – increased by 4%.

Dairy Crest CEO Mark Allen said, "Dairy Crest has delivered a solid performance in the third quarter, with the combined sales of our four key brands continuing to grow.

"Innovation continues to support the development of these brands and our new launches are performing in line with our expectations."

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Image: The closure comes after a consultation process with employees and representatives. Photo courtesy of Alessandro Paiva.