A milk vending machine could soon be set up at an Isle of Wight farm as a way of diversifying their products.
Mr and Mrs Bradley of Crockers Farm, on Cowes Road, have submitted a planning application to the Isle of Wight Council to build a timber hut which would house a milk vending machine.
Milk vending machines are becoming ever more popular with farms as a way of supplying milk to paying customers whenever they want it — supplying, farm fresh, pasteurised milk at a push of a button.
There would also be room for 5 parking spaces.
In a planning statement, agents said the large dairy farm was looking at ways of diversifying what they supplied in light of the uncertainty surrounding milk prices.
Plans have accelerated recently due to the impact of COVID-19, where orders for fresh milk were high, fulfilling ‘unprecedented’ supermarket demand as a result of panic buying. But with the situation stabilising, overall demand reducing and the price per litre of milk falling, Mr and Mrs Bradley are hoping to pasteurise the milk produced on the farm and then sell it in a refrigerated vending machine.
Most of the milk produced by the farm’s herd, of 400 to 450 cows, will still be collected by a milk tanker but the vending machine would allow the applicants to sell the milk ‘at a price above that which they receive from the food service sector and supermarket sales’ while still provide a saving to customers as they buy directly from the farm.
Planning agents said it would allow the farm to ‘cut out the middle man’, letting the farm serve locals and provide a small scale sustainable farm agricultural diversification scheme.
Due to health and safety restrictions, a timber hut on the main track to the farm has been proposed.
Empty the vending machine of money or the low life will be trying to get it out.
Or card payments, no cash.
Very nice idea, let’s hope many people will use this to buy local produce. It’s a case of “use it, or lose it”. We don’t want any more farmland under concrete.
That’s the first milk machine, good idea, will there be any udders elsewhere…….
Only in cowes, I guess!!
Nice to see an old idear from the 60s revived only this time with local farm fresh milk. Worked well back in the day so good luck to them.
Was it the Micky machine your referring too?
It is a good idea, along with other vending machines, soon get whole weeks shopping out of machines… all under the recording of cctv naturally and pay by card !
There is a small one at Ryde end of Havenstreet, seems to do well, fresh produce too.. not all out of machines, but on shelves, a really good idea, saves queuing at Tesco’s…