Sustainable Food Procurement Initiative - Milk provision from Newfield Dairy
Case Study: Milk provision from Newfield Dairy
Region: East Midlands
Organisation: Nottingham City Hospital
Description
Newfield Dairy, based in Hockerton, have begun a pilot scheme to provide the hospital with 1,000 pints of milk a day, adding to the list of local suppliers the hospital already uses. It’s hoped the use of local food will not only give patients greater choice but also contribute to sustaining the local rural economy and help the environment.
The contract was set up with help from Think Farming and Food, the partnership delivering Defra’s Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food in the East Midlands, in association with regional development agency EMDA and Government Office for the East Midlands.
Benefits
- The milk is all produced and processed locally, this ensures continuity and consistency of the supply
- Benefits the local community financially
- Benefits other local milk producers who don’t have the facilities to process their own milk
- Allows the family to continue to farm, as production alone wasn’t enough to sustain the farm. This ensures that the farm environment is protected.
Lessons learned during implementation
Despite early teething troubles the new contract with Nottingham City Hospital is great. The family had always thought the public sector would be dominated by big players but they’d definitely now consider looking for other public sector contracts. They hope their success will encourage other local food producers to look for this kind of contract and hope it also encourages other public sector organisations to look to local farms and dairies for their food
Future developments
John Hughes, Catering Manger at Nottingham City Hospital was very keen to source more local suppliers. Good food is an important part of patient recovery and patient choice. Increasing tendering opportunities for small and local farmers needs to be pushed. John said “Setting up the contract has had its moments; it certainly hasn’t been easy, but we’re hoping that we’re paving the way for other small local producers and for other public sector organisations. The agreement with Newfield dairy is now in place and working well.”
Further information
John Pogson
Newfiled Dairy
Caunton Road,
Hockerton,
Southwell,
Nottinghamshire
NG25 0PN
Tel: 01636 636133
Page published: 2 April 2007