The Sentinel

SHAKIN’ ALL OVER!

Dairy installs milkshake vending machine with seven flavours – including creme egg!

- Flora Byatt flora.byatt@reachplc.com

MILKSHAKE lovers can now get fresh, organic shakes from a selfservic­e farm – and choose from seven different flavours.

Cotwalton Organic Dairy has launched its self-service milkshake and plain milk machine to cope with the soaring costs and decreasing prices for its milk.

Housed in a shed on a farm in the sleepy hamlet of Cotwalton, near Stone, customers first buy a large glass bottle.

They then choose their flavour of milk, and, lastly, fill the bottle. They can pick from strawberry, chocolate, banana, raspberry, bubblegum, candyfloss, and creme egg.

Farmer Rob Malkin works at the farm with his brother Tom and parents Sue and Chris. They have run the farm for 23 years and also sell fresh eggs.

Thirty-one-year-old Rob said: “We launched it in February for fresh milk and we’ve been serving milkshakes since April 5. Farms all across the country are doing it at the moment there’s one in Barlaston and another one off the A34.

“It’s been going pretty good. The thing that differenti­ates us is that our milk is organic. We don’t use any chemicals or sprays.

“The price of milk is going down but the cost keeps going up.

“A third-party buys it and it goes all over the world. It currently goes to America.”

The milkshake machine cost about £50,000 to install. Rob said: “You can bring the bottle back – it’s environmen­tally friendly. It’s all done by contactles­s card payment.

“We’re going to keep swapping the flavours around. Strawberry and chocolate are the most popular.”

 ?? Pictures: Steve Bould ?? TASTY: Tom Malkin, of Cotwalton Organic Dairy, with two organic shakes
Pictures: Steve Bould TASTY: Tom Malkin, of Cotwalton Organic Dairy, with two organic shakes

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