Dairy Farmers of Britain


Dairy Farmers of Britain was a UK co-operative milk processor that bought milk directly from farmers and had several factories producing milk and cheese products for sale in various regions throughout the UK. The company was formed as a raw milk trading business in 2002 with the merger of The Milk Group and Zenith Milk.
Dairy Farmers of Britain was the UK's leading dairy farmers' co-operative, marketing almost 1.4 billion litres of milk per year from more than 2,000 member farms.
In 2004, DFoB became the third largest milk processor in the UK, processing over 1.35 billion litres of milk each year into 600 different dairy products, by purchasing Tyneside-based Associated Co-operative Creameries for £75 million from the Co-operative Group.
Key products included a branded range of fresh milk, award winning cheeses in the Cadog range, and many other products such as butter, cream and milk powder.
In April 2007, it announced the intention to cease production at its creamery in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The following year it was also announced that production was going to end at two more of its creamery sites, Fole, near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, and Portsmouth, putting over 600 people out of work.
Dairy Farmers of Britain went into receivership on 3 June 2009. Its farmer members lost significant sums of money, but a number have at least managed to find alternative customers for their milk.