milk vending machine

farmer notsurewhattodo

Member
Livestock Farmer
Whats the thoughts on milk vending machines? We're organic currently milking 120 cows, would like to expand the herd but getting extra organic land is difficult, so thought selling some of the milk we produce via vending machine could be an option.The farm isnt located near any town or village, so thought a vending ,machine could be sited in a local pub car park or similar. If anyone has any experience of doing this would be helpful. Thanks
 

Tim G

Member
Livestock Farmer
Whats the thoughts on milk vending machines? We're organic currently milking 120 cows, would like to expand the herd but getting extra organic land is difficult, so thought selling some of the milk we produce via vending machine could be an option.The farm isnt located near any town or village, so thought a vending ,machine could be sited in a local pub car park or similar. If anyone has any experience of doing this would be helpful. Thanks
@upnortheast would be a good person to ask. They can work well in the right situations.
You'd have to pasteurise the milk so factor in buying one of them too. You'd have to go there every day, how would you take the milk to it and bring back the surplus? I guess you'd need to sell bottles too, how would that work?
 

upnortheast

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Northumberland
All comes down to having a location with plenty of footfall (or tyre fall )
Some folk in Wensleydale converted a horse box & leave it in local villages for a day. Seems to work OK



Possibly the man with most experience of vending machines is Bryce at Mossgeil in Ayrshire.
He has a number of machines in urban locations including Edinburgh & Glasgow & is usually happy to chat, if you can catch him between jobs

We supply a customer who has one in a shop in a suberb of Newcastle.

As noted above suppliers are milk station company
 

Attachments

  • EjUmFnbWkAEr0mr.jpg
    EjUmFnbWkAEr0mr.jpg
    363.8 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:

___\0/___

Member
Location
SW Scotland
Whats the thoughts on milk vending machines? We're organic currently milking 120 cows, would like to expand the herd but getting extra organic land is difficult, so thought selling some of the milk we produce via vending machine could be an option.The farm isnt located near any town or village, so thought a vending ,machine could be sited in a local pub car park or similar. If anyone has any experience of doing this would be helpful. Thanks

Couple round here one on a main road next to a large town is always busy. Other one on a back road near lots of small villages is having to work a lot harder. Always interesting the feed back they get is that their milk is so much better than super market milk.
 
Couple round here one on a main road next to a large town is always busy. Other one on a back road near lots of small villages is having to work a lot harder. Always interesting the feed back they get is that their milk is so much better than super market milk.

Of course it's better than supermarket milk- none of the cream has been stolen and the fat is in the original form.
 

Whitewalker

Member
they’re flat out on social media! That’s marketing!
Flat out in social media. As in one or 2 posts a day which costs nothing or next to nothing. I’m sure if you asked them what % of their day is spent on marketing what would it be .

it’s not volume it imagination. Any how my vending machine is sitting in the shed , the bottles are on order and we’re making finishing touches before we kick off so time will tell and I will see for myself.
 

onesiedale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Derbyshire
Flat out in social media. As in one or 2 posts a day which costs nothing or next to nothing. I’m sure if you asked them what % of their day is spent on marketing what would it be .

it’s not volume it imagination. Any how my vending machine is sitting in the shed , the bottles are on order and we’re making finishing touches before we kick off so time will tell and I will see for myself.
Don't underestimate the time involved in keeping social media activity up to date , interesting and creative. It really is an art.
 

Servac

Member
Location
Wales
Top of the range machine circa £10k so must have needed to spend a bit on access & a "hut " for it. Suppose a pasteruriser would add another few thousand
The costs soon add up, vending machine, building/hut for the machine, pasteuriser, building for the pasteurizer, milk cooling, transfer pump, vehicle to transport the milk if on another site, marketing, e.g. signs etc.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top