Dairy Crest 1883348 224548880 2008-07-09T10:35:43Z CrispMuncher 7418073 Advertising section dealt exclusively with Milk Marketing Board - moved to that page {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Dairy Crest Group plc| company_logo = [[Image:Dairy crest logo.png]] | | company_type = Public ([[London Stock Exchange]]: [http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/prices/system/detailedprices.htm?sym=GB0002502812GBGBXSTMM0250281DCG DCG]) | foundation = [[1933]] (as the [[Milk Marketing Board]]) | location = [[Esher]], [[Surrey]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] | key_people = Simon Oliver, Chairman<br />[[Mark Allen]], Chief Executive| num_employees = 7000 | industry = [[Dairy Products]] | products & services = Cathedral City (cheese)<br />[[FRijj]]<br />Clover<br />[[Petits Filous]]<br />| revenue = £1,355.2m [http://www.hemscott.com/companies/company-summary.do?companyId=3146]| homepage = [http://www.dairycrest.co.uk/ www.dairycrest.co.uk] }} [[Image:Dairy Crest -national distribution centre 28y08.JPG|right|thumb|National Distribution Centre, Warwickshire.]] '''Dairy Crest Group plc''' is a major dairy products company in the [[United Kingdom]]. Its brands include [[Cathedral City Cheddar]] cheese, [[Utterly Butterly]], [[Vitalite]], [[Clover spread|Clover]], St Ivel and [[FRijj]]. They also deliver milk to around 1.1 million households via their [[milkmen]]. ==History== Dairy Crest was established in 1983 as the processing arm of the [[Milk Marketing Board]]: it was [[privatised]] in August 1996. In July 2000, it acquired the dairy and cheese products division of [[Unigate]] (based near the [[BBC]] in London). In November 2002, it acquired the [[St Ivel]] spreads company (based in [[Wootton Bassett]] in [[Wiltshire]]). In September 2004, it acquired the ''Country Life'' butter brand from English Butter Marketing Company. In July 2006, it acquired [[Express Dairies]] from [[Arla Foods]] for £33m. In October 2006, it sold the majority of its own label cheese business to [[First Milk]], its Scottish equivalent, along with the creameries and factory that produce most of the products concerned. Since 1991, Dairy Crest has had a joint venture with [[France|French]] dairy company [[Yoplait]] called '''Yoplait Dairy Crest''' (often abbreviated to YDC) which is 51% owned by Yoplait and 49% by Dairy Crest. The company distributes Yoplait brand products in the UK. In January 2007 Dairy Crest finalised the acquisition of St Hubert for £248 million. St Hubert's brands Cholegram, Le Fleurier and Omega 3 are among the top selling spreads in France, while Vallé is the market leader in Italy. ==Liquid Milk== [[Image:Ford Transit milk float.jpg|thumb|A Dairy Crest [[Ford Transit]] based [[milk float]]]] [[Image:Dairy Crest Milk Float Garage 2.jpg|thumb|right|A Dairy Crest Smith's Elizabethan milk float]] [[Image:Dairy Crest Milk Float Garage 1.jpg|thumb|Inside a Dairy Crest [[milk float]] garage]] Dairy Crest is a major supplier of own label milk to UK supermarkets. Current contracts include Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Lidl and Co-Op. Dairy Crest is the largest UK 'middle ground' distributor of milk and dairy products, servicing wholesalers, foodservice and Bottle Milk Buyers (known within the industry as BMBs). Dairy Crest is also the largest doorstep milk operator (i.e. the traditional UK milkman) in the UK. Despite the 'doorstep' industry suffering a gradual decline since the early 1980s, this is still a profitable part of the industry. Dairy Crest (along with Unigate and Express Dairies) pursued an aggressive policy of franchising milk rounds in the early 1990s, however by the early noughties many rounds had reverted to being managed. In 2007, Dairy Crest launched "milk&more", an online ordering service for its doorstep customers. ==Cheese== It produces several brands of cheese. The most popular one is '''Cathedral City''', a brand of [[Cheddar cheese|cheddar]] [[cheese]] produced at [[Davidstow]] in [[Cornwall]] (which is not a City and does not have a Cathedral), from a 25 year old recipe. It is currently the most popular brand of cheddar cheese in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. Dairy Crest bought the brand from Mendip Foods Ltd in 1995. Other cheese brands include ''Davidstow'', the ''Hartington'' brand of [[Blue Stilton]] and ''Wexford''. ==Spreads== ''St.Ivel Gold'' is a low fat spread that was launched in 1977 by St Ivel and became popular for being lower in fat than other brands. Originally a [[Kraft Foods|Kraft]] then St Ivel brand, ''[[Vitalite]]'' is a [[sunflower spread]] which is known for its Smiling [[Sun]] which was part of a famous advertising campaign, with a [[Israelites (song)|song]] rhyming Vitalite. Empty Vitalite tubs are also popular for being used as bowls for feeding pets. ''Utterly Butterly'' is a brand that is made from buttermilk, there is also a Scandinavian variant. It is a sponsor of a [[wing walking]] team. ''Willow'' is a churned buttermilk-based spread, which is sold as 250 g blocks. Other brands include ''Golden Churn'', ''Country Life'' (formerly owned by English Butter) and ''[[Clover spread|Clover]]''. The butters and ''Clover'' are made in [[Crudgington]] in [[Telford, Shropshire|Telford]], and the other spreads such as ''Gold'' are made in [[Kirkby]] in north [[Merseyside]]. ==Drinks== [[FRijj]] is a [[milkshake]] drink. It is typically sold in 500ml curvy bottles. Flavours include [[chocolate]], [[banana]], [[strawberry]], [[vanilla]] and [[white chocolate]]. There are also limited edition flavours featuring characters from [[The Simpsons]]. These are typically available for a few months at a time. The following flavour/character combinations have been released: banoffee pie (Krusty the Klown); raspberry doughnut (Homer Simpson); mint chocolate (Mr Burns); chocolate fudge brownie (Chief Wiggum). The current limited edition, raspberry, is not associated with any character, and used to be part of the standard range. By popular demand, chocolate fudge brownie has become a permanent flavour. ==Ingredient Products== Milk powders etc. ==Production sites== The main production sites in the UK are in [[Chadwell Heath]], close to the [[A12 road|A12]] which bottles much of the milk for London, and at Severnside in [[Stonehouse, Gloucestershire|Stonehouse]] in [[Gloucestershire]], close to junction 13 of the [[M5 motorway|M5]]. ==External links== * [http://www.dairycrest.co.uk Dairy Crest] * [http://www.milkdeliveries.co.uk Milk deliveries] * [http://www.milkandmore.co.uk milk&more] {{FTSE 250 Index constituents}} [[Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange]] [[Category:Food manufacturers of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Dairy products companies]] [[Category:Companies based in Surrey]] [[simple:Milk Marketing Board]]