A SCOTTISH organic farm has been left fuming after East Ayrshire council awarded a contract to supply milk to local schools to a German dairy giant.
Mossgiel Organic Dairy teamed up with the local authority back in 2021 to provide every school in the area with its organic milk.
The farm in Mauchline, where Robert Burns once ploughed the fields and wrote many of his famous verses, aims to provide sustainable, organic milk while challenging the dominance of the bigger dairy companies and their negative impact on the industry.
The farm has won multiple awards and is known for providing a high quality product whilst also being environmentally friendly.
For example, it was the first dairy farm in the UK to ditch single-use plastics
But, The National can now confirm that the council has decided to award the contract to Müller – a German multinational firm which is considered the largest dairy brand in the UK.
Mossgiel took to social media to hit out at the move.
In a statement, they claimed: “On paper, the council saves £6500 a year. In reality, here’s the rest of the bill:
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"Recycling costs: Single-use milk packaging could add £2000–£5000 a year to waste bills, even if they pour from bigger supermarket jugs instead of little cartons.
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"Jobs lost: Two full-time equivalent local roles gone; £50–55k removed from Ayrshire’s economy, plus around £5k less in National Insurance contributions for public services.
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"Local milk value: £61,000 less per year for our farm and the co-op of organic family farms we work with."
They then added: “Best case? They save a couple of grand up front, but lose around £111,000 from the East Ayrshire economy. Worst case? No saving at all plus the loss of jobs, farm income and the circular economy on top.
“Either way, that’s over £100,000 stripped out of our community every year, diesel fumes back in playgrounds, and a prayer that milk cartons actually make it into recycling instead of landfill. Oh, and profits? Straight to a German-owned company. We respect the council’s decision but we don’t agree with it.”
In a statement to The National, East Ayrshire Council confirmed that Mossgiel Milk's bid to keep the contract was unsuccessful and that Müller will replace them.
“The Council remains committed to providing healthy nutritious school meals, and has for the past 20 years, issued fresh and organic food contracts. The contracts are designed to provide a range of produce that meets higher welfare, and health and nutritional value. The successful tenderers have committed to maintain these standards,” the council said.
“The council also has strong links through the Ayrshire Economic Forum that engages with the wider local market to promote opportunity; and there is also direct support from the council’s business support team and the Supplier Development Programme, which delivers grant support and expertise to businesses exploring public sector procurement opportunities.”
