Rachel'S Organic Greek Style Natural Yogurt, 450g

Product Information

In May 2012, Rachel's was moved into Lactalis Nestlé Chilled Dairy (LNCD), which is a joint venture with Nestlé. Lactalis owns 60% of LNCD and Nestlé 40%. [8] Rachel’s Organic is one of the major processors of organic milk in Wales and requires the full output from 20 major organic dairy farms.” While Rachel’s is now a subsidiary of French company Lactalis, it still retains its traditional ways of working, including its recipe and its networks of organic milk suppliers. Operating on a semi-independent basis, this allows the yoghurt maker to take advantage of the larger organic supply chain that Lactalis is able to tap into, but without compromising on its heritage.

For an organic yoghurt, you need to source organic milk and organic fruit, and the farming processes involved are more complicated, expensive and time consuming​,” Brook explained. The company supplies organic yoghurt and other dairy products to major supermarket chains such as Morrison, Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA, Co-op and Waitrose; other clients include Ikea, the London Ritz and Eurostar catering. The new extension has increased daily output of the facility threefold, allowing the production of over 50 tonnes of yoghurt per day. Rachel’s has been committed to organic production throughout its history and remains so to this day, but in the current economic climate that has brought with it some issues. Hence Rachel's was included in a boycott related to baby milk products by the Lactalis Nestlé from 2012 onwards. [9] Awards [ edit ]Rachel’s has won numerous awards for the quality of its products and its innovation including Great Taste awards, [10] and Wales the True Taste awards. [11] In 2007 Rachel’s was recognised as one of Britain’s most environmentally friendly brands in a YouGov poll conducted by Marketing Week, [12] and in 2009 was given Coolbrand status in the UK list of Superbrands. [13] In July 2010, Rachel's received eight awards in the Dairy Produce Category at the Royal Welsh Show. [14]

The company was born out of the need for farming diversification. When heavy snow hit Aberystwyth in 1982, preventing milk tankers from reaching the isolated farm, the Rowlands were forced to find other uses for their milk. Using an old butter churn, they made cream and butter by hand. After the snow cleared, the Rowlands discovered they had inadvertently created a market for their dairy goods and they were spurred on to extend their range of products. Rachel began researching old recipes, including yogurt, and the Rachel’s Dairy brand was born as a company in 1984.

Tech

Organic certification is awarded by the Soil Association, an organisation that the original Rachel’s mother Dinah was a founding member of. Farms that are certified are able to prove that their processes sustain the health of soils, ecosystems, animals and people, and comply with current EU regulations. The home for the company’s production stayed on Brynllys farm, but between 1985 and 1990 the company experienced considerable growth, which resulted in a purpose-built dairy being built at Glanyrafon, Aberystwyth. Rachel’s Organic Dairy, a dairy product company operating in West Wales, UK, produces a range of premium organic dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, crème fraiche, rice desserts, butter (salted and unsalted) and cream-based products.

Moody PLC supplied and installed a raw milk separation plant of 5,000l per hour capacity, a cream pasteuriser of 1,000l per hour capacity, a formulation tank system During this time, Rachel’s Organic was acquired by Horizon Organic Dairy of America (1999), which was itself taken over by Dean Foods in early 2004. In 2002–04 the company’s turnover doubled, with more than 10 million pots of yoghurt per year being produced. This prompted the plans for a new major expansion.Despite these challenges, Brook believes that as inflationary pressures abate, the brand is well placed to offer more people “ great quality, organic products​”. With support from the Welsh Government it has been able to grow its export market, which now makes up 15% of the overall business, and developing this further remains a target.