Milk vending machine is a timely way to pick up a pint

WITH families across Yorkshire stuck at home, kettles everywhere are under pressure as people turn to a reassuring cuppa with more frequency - and that means the milk is taking a hammering too.
Adam Spence in The Home Farmer's milk vending machine. Picture: Tony JohnsonAdam Spence in The Home Farmer's milk vending machine. Picture: Tony Johnson
Adam Spence in The Home Farmer's milk vending machine. Picture: Tony Johnson

But for Wensleydale residents concerned about heading to supermarkets to replenish the milk jug, fear not. One farming family are ensuring everyone has plenty of the white stuff with their milk vending machine.

The Home Farmer - brothers Benjamin and Adam Spence, parents Susan and David and Benjamin’s wife Samantha - have been selling milk produced by their herd of 80 Friesians at their Aysgarth farm, across Wensleydale from the back of a trailer since last summer.

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And since the coronavirus lockdown took hold, they’ve seen an upturn in sales.

Home Farm, Aysgarth. Picture: Tony JohnsonHome Farm, Aysgarth. Picture: Tony Johnson
Home Farm, Aysgarth. Picture: Tony Johnson

The vending machine is perfect in these socially distanced times, as Benjamin Spence told The Yorkshire Post: “If you don’t want to leave your village to head to a big supermarket, it’s ideal.

“It’s very hands-off - the doors are propped open and it’s self service. We have sanitiser and paper towels for people to use, and you bring your own bottle to fill from the machine, which steam sterilises after every use.”

The vending machine has been selling between 80 to 100 litres of milk a week, and it also has a fridge stocking the family’s hand made traditional Farm House Cheese, with all payments going in an honesty box.

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The cheese is a new venture for the Home Farmer, and it fits well with the family’s sustainability values, with animal welfare at the heart of everything they do.

Adam Spence at Home Farm, Aysgarth. Picture: Tony JohnsonAdam Spence at Home Farm, Aysgarth. Picture: Tony Johnson
Adam Spence at Home Farm, Aysgarth. Picture: Tony Johnson

The milk travels just five metres from the milking parlour to the processing room next door, and is matured on site for three to four months, cloth bound. It is now stocked around the region, including by the Wensleydale Creamery and sold online on the Home Farmer’s website. Orders are sent by 24-hour courier in ice-packed boxes.

Mr Spence said: “Fifty years ago every farm in Wensleydale will have produced cheese. We’ve invested heavily in the notion that people are increasingly concerned about where their food comes from and whether it is ethically produced - there has been a big shift to that way of thinking.”

The family prides itself on being “very honest about what we do” and documents life on the farm to more than 16,500 followers on their instagram page @thehomefarmer.

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Cheese production began before Christmas with sales beginning to gain pace before the pandemic hit.

Mr Spence said: “Farm House Cheese makers are really struggling with coronavirus - it’s a very high end product, with 70-80 per cent of trade going to restaurants and delis. It is going to be a tough year, as we’ve invested thinking that we’ll be going into these markets.

“But local people are really supporting us and online sales are taking off as well.”

Where to get it

The Spence’s are keeping their usual timetable so residents across Wensleydale can get their fresh, local milk.

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You’ll find them in Aysgarth and West Burton on Mondays, in West Burton, Hawes and Aysgarth on Tuesdays, and in Aysgarth on Wednesdays. On Thursday at Aysgarth and West Burton, Friday in West Burton and Askrigg, Saturday in Askrigg and Aysgarth and Sundays in Aysgarth.

Visit thehomefarmer.co.uk for times.

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