| 71 T T Kim Bowden Invested in new gelato-making equipment Founders Wayne and Angela Moxham. Milk that comes back unsold from retailers is getting a second life as gelato for Levin-based Udderly Organic. Founders Angela and Wayne Moxham have invested in new gelato-making equipment, expanding their family business into gelato with a range due to launch in October. Four flavours will lead the launch: strawberries and cream, salted caramel, chocolate and “Olivi Vanilli” - a vanilla creation named after employee Olivia, who helped develop it. “It’s a dangerous occupation being taste testers,” says Angela, who, along with Wayne, their children and creamery staff, has been sampling a dozen different flavours in recent months. The new product reflects a business model built around transparency and control from cow to customer. Wayne grew up dairy farming and initially farmed conventionally before becoming part of the family farm’s transition to fully certified organic production in 2010. “When he was farming conventionally, it was being picked up, put in a tanker and driven out the gate,” Angela says. “You didn’t necessarily know where your milk had gone.” Going organic gave him a better idea of where the milk was processed, but he still wanted to know where the product he had worked to produce was going. In 2019, the couple committed to building their own creamery, where milk from their two certified-organic farms is pasteurised, chilled and bottled in glass. The farms are run as a selfsustaining organic system. “We have to grow everything that our girls consume,” Angela says. “We don’t bring anything in, and we don’t sell anything off farm other than the odd organic cow.” Today they milk 750 cows, employ 10 people across the farms and another seven at the creamery, and deliver their milk themselves to 105 businesses from Whanganui through to Wellington. This year the business has been named a finalist in the Manufacturing, Production and Processing category of the Electra Business and Innovation Awards, which recognise business excellence in the Kāpiti and Horowhenua regions. Customers include cafes, restaurants, butchers, fruit and vegetable shops, Bin Inns and other independent retailers, as well as accommodation businesses. The weekly delivery run also brings the empty glass bottles home for cleaning and sanitising, while retailers receive a full credit for any milk that remains unsold. As the business grew, however, more perfectly good milk began coming back. “We wanted to do something with that returned milk,” Angela says. MANUFACTURING Udderly Organic The gelato gives the returned milk another purpose while creating opportunities to work with other local producers. Strawberries come from nearby Lewis Farms, while their salted caramel uses salt from Whitianga-based Opito Bay Salt Company. “We love working with other businesses to put out something that both businesses can be proud of,” Angela says. The business has also built a brand around its connection with the farm and its Friesian cows, with its website introducing individual “girls” through descriptions ranging from “leader of the pack” to “buxom lass, top milker”. For Angela, the aim has always been to give customers confidence in knowing where their milk comes from, while having a bit of fun along the way. “We certainly don’t take ourselves very seriously,” she says. HEAT PUMPS AIR CONDITIONING REFRIGERATION VENTILATION Your specialized experts for designing and installing quality heating, cooling and ventilation solutions for your residential home, commercial and industrial business. Proudly Supporting Udderly Organic CONTACTUS PH: 06 358 0896 | 175 JFKDrive, Milson, PalmerstonNorth, 4412 | www.jrl.co.nz Complete Design & Build by Foxpac @ DIVISION OF ROACHES Manufacturers of... Feed Pads • Silage Bins • Precast Stock Ramps • Septic Tanks •Precast Vehicle Ramps • Precast Cattle Stops • Precast Stock Under Passes Cow Shed Specialists • Complete Design and Build Rotary & Herringbone Designed & built by Roache’s Concrete Products Limited History Competitive Pricing Experience Quality Workmanship Durable Building Quality Building P: 06 363 8363 | E: roachesconcrete@xtra.co.nz | W: www.roachesconcrete.co.nz | PO Box 108, Foxton 4848 46 Johnston Street, Foxton 4814 David 0274 425961 Dean 0274 467297 Kurt 027 6649897 It has been a pleasure to work with Udderly Organic “We don’t bring anything in, and we don’t sell anything off farm other than the odd organic cow.”
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