THE opening of a new facility has been hailed as “a great way to start the second decade of Crediton Dairy”.

Board members and staff gathered for the opening of new offices, meeting rooms, a canteen and other facilities in premises which was formerly Buccaneer’s Bar, Potters Snooker Club, and, before that, The Palace Cinema.

The premises are light and airy and incorporate the head office, a boardroom, a welcoming reception area and larger staff canteen.

The offices are largely open-plan and staff are enjoying working in this new way.

Tim Smiddy, managing director, cut a ribbon to officially open the new facility.

Speaking at the opening, Neil Kennedy, chairman, said: “This facility offers a nice working environment and I for one love being able to see the dairy from our boardroom window.

“I think it is a great way to start our second decade, it is modern and I hope it works for all the members of staff working in this open plan way.”

Crediton Dairy made a conscious decision to use local contractors for the new premises.  The build was completed by RKH and a local supplier supplied the furniture.

There has been a dairy at the present location off Church Lane in the heart of Crediton since 1947. Originally processing fresh milk from local farms, it began producing long life milk 21 years later.

Now, after significant development and investments, Crediton Dairy has earned its position as a highly efficient speciality milk drinks producer within the dairy industry.

It was in 2013 that former Milk Link Executives Neil Kennedy and Tim Smiddy led a management buy-out and established Crediton Dairy.

The next year a significant capital expenditure of £4.1 million was invested to increase production of added value fresh flavoured dairy drinks.

Crediton Dairy enters the handheld on-the-go sector of the dairy drinks market in 2015 with a £2.5 million investment at the dairy which includes the installation of a state of the art high speed filler.

In 2017 Crediton Dairy’s Moo range of fresh flavoured milks continued to perform strongly and the Moo Milk brand range was expanded to include a handheld 330ml format. Production of iced coffee also began with the launch of the Arctic Iced Coffee brand.

Within 12 months Crediton Dairy was delivering more than five million cartons of iced coffee across retailer own label and the Arctic Iced Coffee brand.

In 2019 a further £12 million investment was made to open a second filling hall to further enhance Crediton Dairy’s capabilities.

The next year Crediton Dairy embarked on its most ambitious plan to-date: a £12 million investment to build a second packing hall on the existing Crediton site. 

In 2021 the second packaging hall housing state of the art packaging lines was opened and the new lines extended Crediton Dairy’s capacity and capabilities across a variety of new packaging formats and sizes.

Most recently investment of £20 million on the site continued with the scoping of the new head office building and reception on site, plus investments to improve production efficiencies and support the sustainability plan.

Today 94 farmers, nearly all of whom farm within 30 miles of the dairy, are contracted to supply Crediton Dairy with an annualised volume of 160 million litres of high quality, farm-assured milk.

Crediton Dairy now employs more than 200 people, mostly from the town and surrounding area. It is always interested in hearing from anyone who would like to explore career opportunities with the Dairy.