Leading yogurt-maker Llaeth y Llan has clinched a new deal to supply 54 Morrisons stores in the South West of England, more than doubling their contract with the supermarket giant.
Their popular creamy products are already on the shelves of over 40 Morrisons outlets across Wales as well as at the UK’s biggest supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, and the Co-Op.
The good news for the award-winning North Wales family firm based at Llannefydd, near St Asaph, comes hot on the heels of a major re-design aimed at increasing sales and modernising the brand.
Director Gruff Roberts said: “We’re delighted to announce this latest deal which will bring our range of yogurts to an even wider market and it coincides with a major re-design of the pots our yogurt comes in that gives them a new attractive look, greater shelf appeal and makes them easier to recycle.
“Morrisons was already an important customer of ours but this will more than double the number of their supermarkets which stock our yogurts.
“We have been listening closely to our customers and have been planning this for some time to reflect their desire for more easily recyclable pots and more product information.
“We also wanted to refresh the product with a new look to stand out on the supermarket shelves and we feel the new Llaeth y Llan packaging is vibrant and exciting as well as reducing our plastic use.
“Packaging changes take a lot of time to plan. Our previous major restyle was over eight years ago and in that time the market has changed, including what customers want to see from a yogurt brand – so we thought it was time to inject freshness.”
The revamp includes their large 450g pots which will be made from a thinner, more easily reusable plastic, wrapped in card with a new recyclable lid.
The popular small 125g pots will also will also feature the new branding, the changes reducing plastics use by 6,500 kilograms a year.
Gruff Roberts added: “This is a big step in our goals to reduce plastic within the company to become as recyclable as we can possibly be.
“We have also listened to our customers and reduced the sugar content where we can without affecting the taste and quality which is a great achievement for us.
“What won’t change though is that our yogurt remains free from genetically-modified ingredients and all our milk comes from Red Tractor-assured farms within 20 kilometres of the dairy so supply chains are kept short.”
Llaeth y Llan/Village Dairy was founded by Gareth and Falmai Roberts over 35 years ago and now employs over 50 local staff making around 100 tons of yogurt a week in 14 flavours.
The day to day running and management of the company has now passed to Gareth and Falmai’s sons, Owain and Gruff, while daughter Llior Radford’s marketing company, Seventy Twenty Ten, has also been involved in the new re-design.
Llior worked with Llaeth Y Llan on the restyling alongside the View Creative design agency and she said: “We wanted the new packaging to be fun, energetic and colourful to stand out on the supermarket shelf.
“At the same time, we also wanted to bring the character and identity of the brand to the packaging and on the larger pots there is also a map that gives a sense of place and shows that we’re not just another dairy but we’re part of the North Wales community.”
The new pots are already going out and Gruff Roberts said: “The new look and branding has gone down well with buyers and our independent customers and the feedback has been very positive.
“We also expect the new-style pots to go down well on the shelves and are building new warehousing here at Village Dairy to cater for an increase in sales.
“Our business has held up well during the pandemic as people have increasingly gone for locally-produced, high quality food they can trust and that’s something that is very much part of who we are.”
