Robert Wiseman’s revamped Bridgwater dairy is set to start operations in December, the company has announced.
The Somerset dairy’s output will be increased from 250M litres of milk a year to 500M litres a year in two phases to bring it in line with capacity at Wiseman’s Droitwich Spa dairy. The increase will enable it to take advantage of milk sales through supermarkets, which are growing at the expense of doorstep deliveries, Wiseman claimed.
Wiseman has spent a record £42.1M in capital expenditure in the past year, of which £26.6M has gone on the Bridgwater facility. The company plans to spend a further £60M over the coming year, £39.4M will be spent at Bridgwater.
Wiseman’s sales volumes were up 5.9% to 1.46bn litres a year and turnover increased by 6.5% to £605.3M. Pre-tax profits were up 29.4% to £34.6M.
Contracts with retailers One Stop Stores and Booths helped produce the good results.
Wiseman, which supplies 60% of Tesco’s organic milk, has signed a contract to supply Sainsbury with the product from this autumn.
Organic orders will be processed at Wiseman's Manchester and East Kilbride dairies but English and Welsh volumes will move to Bridgwater early in 2008.
The company said it had achieved “critical mass” in the south west of England after acquiring Milk Link’s dairies in August 2006.
It also said its investment in new products was at “record levels”, with products such as Puriti kids flavoured milk and organic flavoured milk launched during the year.