Longley Farm is a Yorkshire based dairy products manufacturer selling its own brands through retailers; a family-owned business from father to son who are highly protective of their reputation.

Through discussions, it transpired that they had surplus stock from trials of a new product that had recently been launched into the marketplace. Surplus was occurring because the minimum batch size that they could make on their equipment was greater than the initial sales volumes being taken by the retailers.

This was resulting in several thousand pots of Greek yoghurt being wasted every two weeks whilst retail sales grew to match their minimum batch size. Working together, we gave Longley Farm the confidence to redistribute the surplus stock; both understanding that the volumes would reduce as sales levels grew. That is the nature of surplus!

Longley Farm continue to innovate by bringing new products to market, knowing that there is a home for their surplus that delivers cost recovery and protects their brand whilst also creating environmental benefit.

Food waste is a very serious problem in this country, right from the farm to fork. Although we are big importers of food, studies show that we are already self-sufficient if waste can be eliminated. Whether from an ethical, environmental, or economical viewpoint, the elimination of food waste is a goal that we should all be striving to achieve.

Jimmy Dickson, CEO, Longley Farm