Our September climate Enjoy your meal

“Why we launched the most expensive flat white in the world”

Agriculture is one of the first things sold by the government and the market on the river – I wanted to change the entire story.

I am a third generation farmer in Mossgiel. My grandfather came here in 1948 and then my father took the farm. I took over the business in 2015 when my father and grandfather were diagnosed on both health conditions.

I was 27 years old. I had left the farm after school to train with Mercedes Benz and had worked for management there. But when I came home, I found that their illnesses were much worse than expected – they gave grandpa three months and my father one year. At the same time, the milk price had almost collapsed. It went from 27p to 9p per liter.

As a result, we lost a little more than £ 180,000 a year. We were forced to sell most of our cows and machines. We started selling our milk to the local community. I created a pasteurer and without realizing, I created a new type of pasteurization. A “low and slow” method that killed the bacteria, but the milk tasted as close as possible to raw, creamy milk.

We became organic and in 2019 we cut out a usage plastic. Since 2021 we have been supplying the entire milk to the schools of East Ayrshire. We are the first such contract in Scotland, where there is no waste.

We are one of just two dairy farms in Scotland who operate a cow-with-calf system in which the calves are kept with their mothers.

Last year we started “The World’s Treas Treas Flat White”, in which the price includes 34 shares in the farm to finance a more sustainable production.

We hope to sell our milk in London and all over the UK in the next few years. I think my father and grandpa would be proud of me. ‘

If you can’t get Mossgiel milk where you are, how can you make sure that your daily milk influences as little as possible on the planet?

• Follow Mossgiel on social media to be inspired. You are on Instagram, Facebook and Tikkok.
• Explore how the dairy industry works and consider changing your purchase habits. Is there a milk delivery service in your region that use recyclable glass bottles? Where is your next organic dairy products?
• According to the Soil Association, the demand for overall operating and drinks achieved positive growth in 2024 and increased by 7.3%to reach the market value of 3.7 billion GBP. According to ADHB (The Agriculture & Garden Culture Development Board), it bought an increase in people a year by 13.8% in British organic milk compared to the previous year. You will be in good company!
• Find out more Mossgilelfarm.co.uk