Jessica Armitage has used her experience gained from working overseas to set up her own direct supply business, which runs alongside her familys dairy farm. Jonathan Wheeler reports.
Launching a business which depends on maintaining close contact with clients during a pandemic year would seem like taking on one more challenge than necessary.
But Jessica Armitages PrOganic organic food supply business is building a strong customer base around its base in Oakham, Leicestershire.
And word of mouth in the form of testimonies is helping generate an enthusiastic customer base.
The business is based at Glebe Farm, Oakham, a 111-hectare (274-acre) farm bought by Peter Dixon- Smith and Miss Armitages father, Wil Armitage, in 2011.
Mr Dixon-Smith and Mr Armitage already ran a 350-strong dairy unit at Keythorpe Lakes, Tugby, which converted to organic status in 2005.
They immediately converted Glebe Farm from arable production to grass, and from conventional management to organic.
Glebe Farm was originally used as a dry cow and heifer rearing unit.
But they got the opportunity to add an adjoining 57ha (140 acres) on an farm business tenancy in 2014, and have since added a further 23ha (56 acres) of grassland at Whitwell to that.
That made it a big enough unit to be turned into a milking unit, with a new parlour being installed for a 180-strong spring calving herd run on a simple grass and concentrates regime.
At the time, Miss Armitage was studying business and management at Reading University.
Placement
During a placement year in New Zealand and Australia, she met dairy farmers adding value to their milk by using on-farm vending machines and wondered whether a similar system would be profitable at home.
When she returned to the farm, she started by managing the youngstock at Keythorpe for a couple of years,
before moving to Glebe Farm as assistant herd manager, and launched PrOganic in August 2019.
She started by selling their pasteurised, un-homogenised milk direct to the public via vending machines, and has branched out from there.
She explains: I wanted to start using our own products and supply them straight to the consumer and cut out the supply chain.
It was also a chance to show people what we do on the farm and what we create.
So the van she uses to re-stock the static machines is also now used to sell a range of foods originating on their farms.
That includes eggs from the chickens that her mother runs at Keythorpe; cheese made by Wyke Valley with their milk (they are members of Omsco) and oats grown on the farm.
Grass-fed
In the longer-term, Miss Smith says she is planning to add home-produced grass-fed Angus cross beef to the offer, with younger brother Giles returning to the farm to manage that business.
The first milk vending machine was installed at Gates Garden Centre at Cold Overton, a few miles from
the farm.
A second one was added at Market Harboroughs eco village a combination of 18 ecologically-minded businesses located in one building in the middle of the town in February 2020.
Jessica explains she has spent time talking with customers to help develop the business.
The reaction has been wonderful. Customers love it, she says.
The older ones say our milk tastes like that they remember from when they were young.
We have some of the best produce in the world here and it is important to tell people about it and tell them about British farming.
One aspect which interests her is the number of comments she receives from customers with lactose intolerance conditions who have had reactions to homogenised milk, but are fine drinking their un-homogenised products.
Her original business development plan was stalled when Covid-19 hit, but that inspired
a change of approach that is proving beneficial.
Our vending machine sales dipped slightly, but we carried on developing the business with new machines at the Ventoux Cafe in Tugby, and at Waterloo Cottage farm shop near Market Harborough, she says.
Delivering
But with Covid-19 lockdowns meaning people were reluctant to visit supermarkets or visit catering outlets with friends, the idea of delivering a wider range of food was developed with fresh impetus.
To complement that range, Miss Armitage added a coffee machine to the van and is developing a range of delivery routes around local villages.
If people cannot get out to have a great coffee with their friends then I can bring it to them, she says.
That face-to-face contact is really important. I can tell them all about the farm and what is happening.
They are always interested in things like how many calves have been born that week.
The business is also eco-friendly, in that it sells milk in glass bottles.
There is a massive shift against using plastic, and one of the biggest plastic waste sources is discarded milk containers, Miss Armitage says.
We sell bottles to our customers which they can get re-filled as many times as they like.
She has been concentrating on building routes in areas surrounding the farm, but says she will consider expanding the business in the future.
While she has relinquished her full-time role on the farm, she is still on hand to help out during busy periods like scanning and calving. I want to make sure I have the process right before expanding. I am still doing all the pasteurising, running the van, driving, selling and then coming home to all the paperwork.
