The Omsco rebrand will be marked by the launch of a new range of Organic Herd branded premium products which have been based upon three brand pillars: ‘Proudly Sustainable, Naturally Delicious, Always Organic’.
Aimed at specialist retailers, delis and farm shops across the UK, the Organic Herd range will include cheddars, a selection of butters, and milk drinking chocolates, which will play with flavours such as truffle, port and caramel and sea salt.
The range will be stocked and distributed via Peter Green, the operators of a nationwide next day delivery network for chilled, frozen and ambient food products, into an array of wholesalers and direct to retail outlets. The new products will see their debut at the London-based Speciality Fine Food Fair this September.
As part of its renewed strategy, the business will also be looking to continue to deliver sustainable returns to its owners. Over the last 12 months, Organic Herd has maintained its milk price at 49ppl (on a standard liquid litre basis). To put this into context, today its 120 farmer-owners, located across England, Scotland and Wales, receive what the company says is the leading published organic milk price paid by a processor or co-op in the UK. This represents a premium vs the average conventional price of c.10-12ppl.
Along with this, it will also be focused on nurturing its long-term sustainable supply partnerships and growing its international presence through Organic Herd’s Kingdom Organic and British Organic Dairy Co. export cheese brands. Its Grass Roots Dairy Co cheese and butter brand will continue to be sold in the UK.
Commenting on the rebrand, Martyn Anthony, Organic Herd’s chief executive, described the new name as “more relevant and relatable” and a catalyst for the company’s desire to engage with customers and consumers more effectively on issues they care about.
He added: “The transition from being the Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative (Omsco) to Organic Herd demonstrates the ongoing evolution of the business. From being simply a transactional supplier of organic milk to third party processors, our new name reflects that we are now a more confident and more progressive business with a range of valuable customers, supply partnerships, products offerings and routes to market.
“We know we have much more to do but believe our new identity will be a catalyst to enhance and accelerate our mission of providing a sustainable future for our dairy farmers and the natural environment in which they farm.”
Although Organic Herd will become the trading name for the Omsco Group, the latter will remain the legal entity of the business enabling all of its contracts, commercial agreements etc., to remain in place.
In other dairy-related news, Crediton Dairy is rolling out a three-year capital investment programme, read more about the move here.
