Llaeth y Llan
Village Dairy
Tal y Bryn
Llannefydd
Denbigh
LL16 5DR
Contact:
Gareth and Falmai Roberts
Tel: 01745 540256
Mobile: 07970 908899
Website:
www.villagedairy.co.uk
E-mail:
Llaeth@villagedairy.co.uk
25 yoghurt flavours including fruit yoghurts, the ‘Bora Da’ breakfast collection and the liqueur dessert range.
Great Taste 2005 Gold Awards for Luxury Plain Yoghurt and Luxury Strawberry Yoghurt
Great Taste 2005 Silver Awards for Luxury Lemon & Limoncello Yoghurt, Luxury Honey Yoghurt and Luxury Apple and Cereal Yoghurt
On sale at:
Asda, Sainsbury & Morrisons
Farm shops, delicatessens & independent retailers throughout Wales, the Welsh borders, the north west of England, Birmingham and London.
Ludlow Marches Food & Drink Festival – 8th -10th Sept. 2006
Gwledd Conwy Feast, Conwy – 21st and 22nd Oct. 2006
BBC Good Food Show, NEC Birmingham – 22nd –26th November 2006
The exuberant heart soon to be seen as Llaeth y Llan’s new logo on packaging for their range of creamy yoghurts could not be more appropriate for a family-run business which has won numerous Great Taste Awards. Their most recently launched ‘Bora Da’ breakfast range with fruit and cereals places The Village Dairy, as they are also known, firmly in the shopping baskets of the health conscious. “The company has grown considerably,” says Falmai. “It shows what can be achieved when you have confidence in your product and in your aims.”
Still run by Falmai and Gareth Roberts and their son Owain from their farm near Llannefydd overlooking the Elwy Valley, they have
diversified significantly from originally running the village milk round with a dairy herd of 50. Soon the Roberts’ found themselves wondering how to use an excess of semi-skimmed milk, the by-product of increased demand for cream by local hotels. Perceived as a ‘fast food’ by many and with a customer group spanning all ages, a marked growth in national sales of 
yoghurt prompted them to start their own production in 1985 with just two stainless steel buckets in the airing cupboard. “At first we were just using plain white yoghurt pots, hand labelled with felt-tip pen”, explains Falmai. Courses at Reaseheath and Llysfasi Colleges developed their skills and soon they were expanding to introduce 14 fruit flavours, sold locally.
In 1995, and with the help of EU funding, the family invested in state-of-the-art new dairy plant. Finding themselves placed next to a liqueur stand at Olympia’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair, Falmai suddenly realised that theirs was an ideal yoghurt to combine with liqueurs to create a more exotic dessert. Now sold in sleek black packaging, the latest additions to this range include Celtic Coffee and Cointreau and Orange.
With 25 yoghurt flavours now sold throughout Wales, the West of England and in London and Birmingham, sales have increased year by year to reach 5 million pots per year. Llaeth y Llan yoghurt has now even appeared at Harrods and on The Welsh Assembly’s tables in Cardiff. Now employing 12 full time staff, as well as some part-time and seasonal workforce, Gareth and Falmai are conscious of the need to constantly search out new ideas. “Our customers are always on the look out for new products so, to stay ahead of the game as a business, we need to be innovative.”
