As a family we’re fully committed to quality and sustainability
Park Farm is nestled in the Auldhouse countryside on the outskirts of East Kilbride, Scotland.
The farm is run by three generations of the Neilson family, who have been dairy farming for over fifty years. Papa Tom still keeps a close eye on proceedings, while Hugh, Glen and Grant manage the farming operations and Ross looks after the new dairy.
All of the cows at Park Farm are milked using robotic milking stations, which reduces human disruption and lets the cows visit the robot to be milked whenever they want. These pampered cows also have waterbeds and electric brushes!
Ross says: “The aim of What’s Fresh is to bottle our own quality, fresh milk and deliver to families and businesses in East Kilbride and surrounding areas. Customers now rightly want to know the provenance and traceability of their food. Our milk only travels a few metres from the farm to the new dairy so we can be completely transparent with our customers and show them exactly where their milk is coming from and how it is processed – even down to meeting the cows!
We’re also prioritising sustainable packaging and operations. Annual UK emissions from food manufacture, distribution and retail are equivalent to 15 million tonnes of carbon so with low food miles, returnable glass bottles and reduced food waste, we can do our bit to combat that.”
The family set up a new company in 2020 called What’s Fresh to deliver fresh goods from independent producers to local customers.
What’s Fresh continues to expand its offering and has recently invested in a new purpose-built milk bottling facility. The new milk deliveries boast ultra-low food miles and reusable 1 litre glass bottles to eliminate single-use plastics and reduce emissions.