First Milk agrees to divest Glenfield Dairy business to Graham’s The Family Dairy

First Milk has agreed to divest its Glenfield Dairy business, which is based in Fife, Scotland, to Graham’s the Family Dairy.

The financial details have not been disclosed.

Following the divestment of Glenfield Dairy, First Milk intends to focus more on its hard cheese and liquid milk businesses.

Glenfield Dairy produces cottage cheese, quark and sour cream.

Graham’s will add the dairy’s products to its range when it acquires the location in Fife on 2 December, reported Foodmanufacture.co.uk.

First Milk CEO Mike Gallacher said: "Glenfield fits well with Graham’s other well-established dairy operations and the sale protects employment at the site and hence the broader Scottish dairy sector.

The sale of Glenfield Dairy follows a full strategic review by the board over the summer

"It will allow us to focus even more closely on our core businesses in hard cheese and liquid brokering. This is already starting to drive improvement, with the business moving into a positive operating profit at mid-year, consistent with the phasing of our turnaround plan. We are confident that this focus will deliver improved milk prices and a more sustainable business model for our farmer shareholders," added Gallacher

Graham’s The Family Dairy managing director Robert Graham said: "This is an exciting acquisition for us as it allows us to extend our product range for customers and consumers even further, with the addition of cottage cheese and quark. In addition, this deal presents great potential to explore further new product development going forward.

"As a business, our core values run through the very heart of our business, family, farming and high-quality products that taste great. We plan to bring these principles to Glenfield as they become part of the Graham’s family. We’re delighted to be expanding the business on home turf and will continue to be mindful of future growth opportunities."

Graham’s The Family Dairy was founded in 1939 and is considered to be a leading player in the Scottish dairy sector.

First Milk has been experiencing poor business performance for several years, leading up to huge losses in 2014/15. With the arrival of Gallacher as CEO at the end of March 2015, First Milk has made significant progress in implementing a turnaround plan, which included establishment of business units, significant restructuring, appointment of a new experienced executive team and new commercially based pricing scheme.