How OMSCo Began

When Sally Bagenal and her husband Henry decided to convert their 227-acre dairy farm to organic they started out on a journey that was to lead to the formation of the first UK organic milk cooperative.

Although they had been toying with the idea for some time, the decision to go organic was finally made after a disagreement with a neighbour over spray drift. This was a huge leap of faith back in the 1980’s when there was no market for organic milk, but it was a natural step for the Bagenals. Sally’s Quaker background and schooling had given her a philosophy of ‘treading softly on the earth’ and the health, environmental and welfare aspects of organic were of great importance to them both.

Sally set out to create a market for their organic milk by talking to local processors and as a result of dogged persistence managed to persuade local cheese-makers Alvis Bros to make an organic Cheddar. Shortly afterwards she forged an alliance with Yeo Valley Farms – who started to produce their now hugely popular organic yogurt.

The dissolution of the Milk Marketing Board (who had previously purchased all milk produced in the UK) left the market wide open and farmers in a very poor bargaining position when it came to selling their product. It was Tim Mead, the managing director of Yeo Valley, who suggested that Sally start an organic milk cooperative to market milk from other organic farms too. So in 1994 the Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative was formed with five dairy farms as members, including the Duchy of Cornwall Home Farm owned by HRH Prince Charles. “This was only really possible because of the unique agreement we had with Yeo Valley who agreed to purchase any surplus milk and pay OMSCo members a profit-linked bonus. In a cut-throat market this kind of working relationship was rare.”

A sophisticated marketing and PR campaign has helped to increase the awareness of the benefits of drinking organic milk. This led to a growth in sales, allowing more farmers to convert so that OMSCo has become the largest organic milk cooperative in the UK.

Although Sally has now moved on to pastures new, she is still actively involved in promoting organic farming in Africa, where she and Henry now live.