Small Dairy “Local milk for local people”

Black and white Holstein cross dairy cows grazing on green pasture with the blue sea in the background

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Milk vending machine. On the left is a stainless stell fronted cabinet with a recess to place bottles to receive milk. On the right is a blue panel with instructions and options for payment. Far right are racks of clean glass bottles for purchase.Every aspect of large, industrial food creates a niche for people who want a less standardised alternative, and if the stars align you may have producers nearby who are willing to fill that niche. So it is with Big Milk. There are small dairies who offer fresh milk produced to the same exacting standards of hygeine without being further processed. Not raw milk (which also has its adherents and suppliers), but whole milk that has been pasteurised and nothing more. Almost as soon as I had published the episode on milk early last month, I was excited to come across an article about one such place, Saltrock Dairy in the southeast of Ireland. Saltrock operates a mobile vending machine from which customers can buy whole milk in recyclable bottles. I immediately made plans to talk to Cath Kinsella, whose brainchild it is.

Notes

  1. Saltrock’s main online presence seems to be on Instagram.
  2. Caroline Hennessy’s article first alerted me to Saltrock.
  3. Here is the transcript.
  4. Thanks to Saltrock Dairy for the photographs.

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