The Dairy House is made up of four Herefordshire farmers, one being my father, who converted to organic milk in 2001 - only to see the price plummet. Rather than go back to conventional production they got together with a local lady, Pru Lloyd, who had been making yoghurt on a small scale for 25 years under the Dairy House name, and worked on developing dairy products to add value to their milk. She was thinking of retiring so she offered them the chance to buy her company in 2002 and since then there has been a huge increase in demand for organic dairy products. We want to be accessible to everyone, bringing organic dairy products to the mainstream. We hand-make yoghurt, cheesecakes, cream, cheeses, butter and crème fraiche using organic milk from our own herds and some of the fruit used is grown on our farms. We are one of the few larger dairy companies using non-homogenised organic milk. Homogenisation breaks down the globules of fat in milk so that they are evenly distributed to give it a longer shelf life. But there are health issues linked to the process as it makes the fat easier to absorb and increases cholesterol. We are trying to make what was a local company into a national brand, but without selling out and losing our 'story', which gives us our vital point of difference and superior product quality. We can guarantee the quality of our milk. One herd is a Jersey herd, which produces much higher quality milk than standard Friesians. We have had great success with our seeded yoghurts, using seeds of sunflower, pumpkin, poppy, sesame and golden linseed that add protein and fibre and have great health benefits. We grow our own damsons for our damson yoghurt, which is one of our biggest sellers and a flavour you don't come across often. We are now planting more damson trees, along with organic apples, pears and gooseberries. We also grow a fair amount of our organic feed on our farms, though our crops were hit by last summer's floods and we have had to buy feed in. The four farms total about 2,750 acres and have about 850 milking cattle. Turnover in 2007 was £1.5m, compared with five years ago when it was £250,000. Our products are in any shop from a small convenience store on the local high street up to Waitrose, Booths and Budgens. We supply Whole Foods Market, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as Windsor Farm Shop, and won two Gold Great Taste Awards in 2007 for our yoghurts.

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