An Aberdeenshire dairy firm has been given a massive boost after its produce was named as one of the Nation’s Local Foodmakers by Morrisons.
The rora dairy’s premium yogurt, made fresh on its farm at Middleton of Rora, Longside, Peterhead, pitched for the sought after shelf place as part of the Nation’s Local Foodmakers campaign, held last year in Perth.
The artisan yogurts will be available in the Peterhead, Inverurie and Aberdeen supermarkets from this month, just as the dairy prepares for its first-ever open day.
Local foodmakers were invited by Morrisons to pitch for their place in its supermarkets at regional events across the UK in the supermarket’s quest to feed the nation with a bigger portion of food sourced from local suppliers.
The move comes as a report published by leading experts on global food issues led by Professor Tim Benton, from the University of Leeds, says that only half (52%) of food eaten in the UK comes from our farmers.
Jane Mackie from rora dairy said: ‘We are passionate about provenance at rora dairy, from the fruit that we add, to the honey that makes our yogurts zing. Everything is local, so working with Morrisons on this campaign is pertinent to our brand.
‘Securing sought-after shelf space within a national supermarket is big news for us as a growing business but also good all round for the community who can buy products from local farmers in their regional supermarket.
‘We have big plans over the coming months and we hope we can grow with Morrisons and become household names in our own right.
‘It is also vitally important to recognise that the yogurts are being delivered to stores with a fraction of the food miles that groceries normally travel.’
Angus Bell, Morrisons local solutions manager for Scotland said: ‘Our customers tell us they want to see more food and drink produced locally in our stores and our foodmakers programme aims to do just that.
‘Having tasted and loved rora dairy’s range of Scottish yogurts for ourselves, we’re pleased that they are going to be stocked in some of our local stores.’
The dairy is also celebrating after its premium yogurt recently won the Best New Food Service Product Award at the North East Scotland Food & Drink Awards 2018.
The farm will open its gates to the public on Sunday, 6 May, for its first open day.
Giving people the chance to get behind the scenes to see how the cows are milked in the state-of-the-art computerised robotic dairy, where the milk is stored ready for collection plus a look at the award-winning yogurts factory.
The Mackie family will be on hand to showcase farm life, offering tours plus an opportunity to pat the calves, and milk a cow. Guests will also be able to make their own smoothie, on a smoothie bike.
Entry is free but donations to the local charity Friends of Anchor which is helping to make North-East Scotland’s cancer and haematology care the best it can be are welcomed.
For more information and to claim a free ticket to the open day click HERE.
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