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The First Milk Cheese Company has achieved a lot in its first year, but there’s an awful lot more it can and will be doing, insists managing director Jeff Halliwell. Freelance journalist Chris Walkland poses the questions.

The first year of the First Milk Cheese Company has been an excellent one, states Jeff Halliwell. It has seen the business stabilised, and the processes, people, and culture all put in place to not only make high quality cheese but to deliver the necessary high levels of customer service and category management. Predatory competitors were certainly circulating ready to pounce if the business got things wrong. But they were thwarted, and First Milk not only maintained all bar one of its customers but secured new ones too, says a clearly delighted and upbeat Mr Halliwell.

The business has grown volume share by about 12%, going from supplying 63,000 tonnes of cheese to the major retailers in 2006 to 71,000 tonnes in 2007.”

2007 also saw considerable investment in the efficiency and technical ability of the plants, which, says Jeff, “is turning the FMCC plants into best in class production units”. The new vats at Haverfordwest are generating substantial yield improvements, and the massive increase in energy costs we have all experienced has made the investment in energy efficiency at the site even more timely and cost effective. There has also been investment in the packing plant at Maelor, with improvements in productivity and service levels. Other investments will come good in 2008, such as those in whey processing, further increasing the profit-potential of the plants.

Proof that what is coming out of the plants is of the right standard can be seen not only from the increasing order book, but from the burgeoning corporate trophy cabinet too – all in all 95 different awards, including three supreme and one reserve champion, were bagged. Other milestones saw the bringing in-house of the ‘island creamery’ brands, the successful re-establishment of the once iconic but recently neglected Scottish Pride brand, the launch of The Lake District Cheese Company, and the proposal to wholly redevelop Campbeltown.

An impressive list, indeed. But has FMCC made some decent money, in what has been a very decent year for cheese? “We’ve met all of the financial targets the Board set for us,” he says. “We’re not out to maximise profits like a plc because we want to pay our members as much as we can in the milk price. But we’ve done well. We’ve won business on product quality, our technical ability on grading, our category management skills and our unique ‘English for England, Welsh for Wales and Scottish for Scotland’ offering. First Milk has got a great all round proposition for cheese. The best in fact. Getting a better price realisation for the cheese we make has been a major focus, and we are achieving that.”

So what of 2008? What’s on the cards here? Clearly that depends on the merger direction the business’ members, and those in Milk Link, decide to take.

“There’s a robust business plan in place if First Milk merges with Milk Link, and an equally robust one if it doesn’t,” he says. “Either way the business will build on the firm foundations it has put down in its first year.”

An obvious development, though, must be to lever regionality in Wales: with the Scots having their Scottish Pride brand and the island creameries, the English suppliers having the new Lake District cheese to get their teeth into, those members supplying Haverfordwest will be wondering if they’ll get a slice of the action.

“No comment,” he says, laughing, thus giving a clear hint that they aren’t going to be left out. But he won’t elaborate just yet.

There’s little doubt that Jeff and his team are big on ideas and high on ambition.