Successes and failures in the dairy industry: South west England and north west France

The UK milk industry has been in a state of rapid evolution following the dissolution in 1994 of the milk marketing boards. The paper examines dairy processing companies, milk collection co‐operatives and milk groups in the south west of England to assemble reasons for success and failures and compare them with north west France, with similar traditional dairying. The findings suggest the following opportunities as the best development potential for the dairy industry in south west England: mature cheddar, speciality cheeses, suitable territorial cheese varieties and other fresh cheeses; dairy desserts; and yoghurts, fromage frais and crème fraiche. A second tier of opportunities could take place through new on‐farm processing; expansion of the product range of existing companies; expansion of the Davidstow Creamery as a producer of mature cheddar; and new “green field” site developments by new entrants.