News / Local milk boost
SALES OF Shetland milk have shot up by ten per cent over the last week following massive support from islanders concerned the local dairy industry could fold.
Shetland Farm Dairies confirmed on Tuesdays that they were benefitting from an ad-hoc Facebook campaign that had already more than 700 people signed up.
Earlier in July it looked as though the Shetland dairy industry could disappear with news that a number of farms were to go out of business, leaving the remaining dairy herds too small to support an island based industry.
Dairy manager Gerry Byres said the local support had instilled new confidence in an industry that was in slow decline.
However, the boost in sales is so far only compensating for losses made during the last 12 months.
“I can confirm 10 per cent increases. That is very significant. I wasn’t aware of the strength of support out there, and I would like to thank people for their support.
“One of my aims when I came here was to increase sales by 10 per cent, but they fell by about 10 percent, so we are now back to where we were about a year ago,” he said.
He added that the improved sale figures made him feel more confident to move forward with investments planned to make the Gremista-based dairy more efficient.
The dairy has now set up its own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/shetlandfarmdairies and is also on Twitter @Shetlandmilk
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