Udder relief as Scots milk eases food block

A DIPLOMATIC crisis thousands of miles away in the Middle East has provided a Scots familyowned dairy with an unexpected boost.

Expat Scots in Qatar have been delighted to find milk from Bridge of Allan-based Graham’ s Dairy on supermarket shelves in the Gulf nation as it tries to avoid food shortages.

Neighbouring nations including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain have cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region by supporting Islamist groups.

Shoppers in the Qatari capital of Doha have packed supermarkets amid fears the country, which relies on imports from its neighbours, would face shortages after Saudi Arabia closed its sole land border.

To alleviate the crisis the state has been importing milk from suppliers.

Graham’s export manager Joe Flynn spotted the opportunity as the Scottish firm already sells products to the Gulf market.

A spokeswoman said: “The milk exports started three weeks ago and at the moment we are shipping around 8500 litres a week.

“We hope to continue supplying our milk there for the foreseeable future.”

Doha-based Scot Michael Naysmith said: “We’ve seen fresh produce from lots of new sources recently but to see Scottish dairy products on the shelves is remarkable.”