localchoice Milk

If you're looking for localchoice milk at Tesco in Thornbury, you're likely to be disappointed, at least for a little while.

The cooperative that our local farmers, such as Richard Cornock from Tytherington were part of (Dairy Farmers of Britain) has gone into receivership.

This means the cooperative members (about 1800 in the UK) have lost all the money they invested, as well as payment for milk supplied in May and the beginning of June.

Richard Cornock is vowing to continue farming but has had to find a new buyer for his milk.

Because Dairy Farmers of Britain were responsible for bottling localchoice milk for Tesco, this line has now been suspended.

Tesco say they're working very hard with other milk processors to see if supplies can be resurrected in the next few months.

A Local Success Story

Until the receivership localchoice milk was a huge success, with Thornbury's Tesco recently converting to selling all localchoice milk (in the available bottle sizes) - around 7,000 bottles a week, from dairy farms within a few miles of the store.

Richard Cornock is a national pin-up, appearing as life-sized cardboard cut-outs in-store, and in Tesco's 2009 calendar.

He was profiled in Farmers Weekly and on the tescofarming.com website as the National Representative for localchoice milk, and also featured in 'The One', Tesco's staff magazine.

How it all began...

Brothers Richard and Tom Cornock keep a herd of cows at New House Farm in Tytherington, just across the A38 from Thornbury.

Theirs is one of four dairy farms in South Gloucestershire which took part in the localchoice scheme - the others are in Lower Morton, Cromhall and Littleton.

The scheme allowed shoppers to buy milk produced in the area where they live, and by doing so, support small family farms.

It came as a response to feedback from customers concerned about sustainable living, food miles and supporting our local economy, who told the supermarket they wanted to buy food that is genuinely local to their area.

Richard worked extremely hard to spread the word about localchoice milk, and his efforts were recognised and rewarded by Tesco. They gave him a Tesco values award for 'commitment and passion in making localchoice milk a success in the Thornbury area'.

localchoice milk was sold alongside standard milk and the farmers were paid more than for standard milk, so shoppers were able to directly support the dairy farming community in this area.

The Cornocks have been farming in Tytherington since the 1840s and will be there for a while yet. When their localchoice milk will return to our shelves is still unknown - but we'll keep an eye on the situation and let you know.

If you'd like more information about New House Farm or localchoice milk, you can email Richard Cornock at