Dairy

Dairy: From pasture to plate

Buy milk, cream, cheese or eggs from Scotland, and you’re assured dairy produce to rival the world’s best. 

Innovative Production

Scotland’s steadily expanding dairy farms have made significant technological advances in recent years. As well as more robotic milking, there’s been pioneering innovation in breeding, husbandry and genetics. In fact, Scotland is now recognised globally for world-leading thinking on livestock genetics and genomics​​.

A Growing Market

1.5bn litres of milk leave Scotland’s dairies annually. Around 44% of this is sold as liquid milk, with another 34% destined for cheese production. The total sale of Scottish cheese in 2022-23 was valued at £261.6 million – a 9.5% increase on the previous year​​.

Scottish cheese dominates the domestic dairy market. But egg production is on the up. An estimated 6.8 million egg-producing hens in Scotland lay eggs valued at well above £88m each year. Combine milk and eggs, and you have a recipe for some impressive export figures: a reported value of £57m. In particular, sales to the USA, Canada and Australia have all grown markedly.

Complementing our climate

The amount of rainfall we get here in Scotland is ideal for rearing Scotland’s 750+ dairy herds. These herds reflect the diversity of dairy cow breeds in Scotland – everything from Holstein, Friesian, Jersey and Ayrshire, to Guernsey and Swiss Brown. Our happy, grass-fed cows provide Scotland’s producers with quality milk that goes on to become cheese, yoghurt, butter and ice cream.

As Ann from Dunlop Dairy explains, “Scotland's got a good climate for dairy. In the west of Scotland, in particular, it's wet and mild. That's good for growing grass, which is ideal for producing a quality product.” Jane from Rora Dairy in Aberdeenshire echoes this saying “Our fields have lots of fresh grass and fresh clover. It’s very easy for cows to be there, they’re very calm and very relaxed and that has an impact on the milk.”

Quality Assurance

All Scottish milk is produced, cooled and stored on farm for regular collection – guaranteeing its freshness and quality. Quality assurance schemes such as Red Tractor and RSPCA govern the dairy sector, providing third-party verification and making sure producers meet high standards. 

The Scottish egg industry, too, has done a huge amount of work through initiatives like the Red Lion Scheme to promote eggs as a healthy and versatile food. Add to this a significant investment by British Egg Industry Council members, which has done much to promote the benefits of Scottish eggs to consumers.

Scotland’s dairy sector’s rigorous approach to quality is enhanced by trade bodies such as The Scottish Dairy Hub, which supports the entire Scottish dairy supply chain with advice and training to improve competitiveness, technical efficiency and sustainability.

Sustainability Focus 

As custodians of land and livestock, Scottish farmers prioritise environmentally friendly practices. They produce sustainable packaging, are committed to local sourcing, and invest in sustainability. This gives food and drink buyers from around the world every reason to look to Scotland for dairy products that meet the highest standards of excellence and sustainability.