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A South West dairy has announced a major £20m investment programme after navigating a “challenging” year for the industry.

Devon-based Crediton Dairy is one of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s leading dairy drinks businesses, supplying more than 13,500 stores and big supermarkets with chilled milk drinks, iced coffee, long life milk and creams. ‘The Real Milkshake Company’ and the ‘Moo’ range of flavoured milks are among its brands.

The independent company, which employs 150 staff and also has an office near Bristol, said it was looking to upgrade its facility in Mid Devon, and would pump “significant” funding into reducing its carbon footprint over the next three years.

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The firm said it would look to install new treatment and water recycling plants, gas boiler and energy monitoring system, as well as developing new office facilities. Bosses said £33m had already been invested back into the business since a management buyout in 2013,

It comes as the company reported that turnover and profit had both risen during its last full financial year, despite “significant inflationary pressures” which it said were driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Amid a backdrop of increased milk prices and operating costs, turnover increased to £114.1m during 2022, up from £101.5m in 2021. Profits also marginally widened to £7.9m from £7.8m recorded a year earlier.

Bosses said the firm had passed its higher costs on to customers through higher selling prices, but had tried to minimise the impact on consumers during the cost of living crisis.

Managing director Tim Smiddy said: “In the light of increasing demand for our product portfolio we are confident about the long-term prospects for the dairy drinks sector and the role that we, as a focussed and flexible, independent, added value business, can play within it. Our latest £20m, three-year, capital investment programme will enable us to upgrade our processing capabilities, improve our staff welfare facilities and reduce our carbon footprint.”

Crediton Dairy added that, in line with the growth, it had recruited more dairy farmers into its dedicated local milk. The company said a total of 94 farmers, mostly based within 30 miles of the dairy, supply it with 160 million litres of milk every year.