A former pub landlord is planning to expand his new milk delivery business after turning down a six-figure offer to buy the fledgling operation.
Julian Terriaca of Hamilton said EM Dairies is attracting attention from large established operators, having secured an order book worth £5 million annually after just four months in operation. After recently turning down a £400,000 buyout offer, he is now looking to extend operations into the north and east of Scotland.
Rather than traditional doorstep deliveries, EM Dairies focuses on the needs of businesses including small retail traders, coffee shops, cafes, garden centres, factories and nurseries. Deliveries are currently running at 80,000 litres per week.
“The B2B sector has been somewhat neglected by the industry," said Mr Terriaca, who ran pubs in London for 15 years but also has a strong background in the Scottish dairy trade.
"The overwhelming majority of companies do doorstep deliveries through the night. But I was aware from speaking to many customers in the areas that I have identified and targeted that they want a different kind of more bespoke service which fits their needs.
“They don’t want to arrive at their premises to open up and find a milk order has been lying outside through the night for possibly several hours. They want fresh deliveries, made to them during their normal opening times so they can make sure everything is tip top and in great condition when they welcome our people through their doors, direct from our chillers to their premises in refrigerated vans."
Backed by a private angel investor, EM Dairies has now set its sights on the areas around Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Inverness. Mr Terriaca said he is also actively seeking to establish new bases in Edinburgh, Dunfermline and Livingston.
“We’ve had significant numbers of enquiries from other parts of the country from potential customers who like our model," he said. "Many have learned of our operation from their contacts in the central belt area."
The company currently employs 10 people with seven vehicles operating out of its base in Bellshill seven days per week. EM Dairies has also forged connections with an east coast fruit and veg wholesaler that delivers their produce to west coast customers while in return EM’s dairy produce is distributed by them in the east.
Scottish economy 'sustained and stable' growth as optimism jumps
(Image: Jane Barlow/PA)
Scotland’s private sector economy enjoyed “sustained and stable” growth in August, with optimism among companies rising to its highest in one-and-a-half years, a key survey shows.
Royal Bank of Scotland’s seasonally adjusted business activity index for the private sector economy north of the Border was 52.7 in August, unchanged from July and significantly above the 50 mark deemed to separate expansion from contraction.
Read the full story here.
Scottish lager giant boosted by major football campaign
(Image: C&C Group)
Scotland's biggest-selling lager increased its market share over the summer, boosted by marketing activity surrounding Euro 2024.
Tennent’s Lager achieved volume and value share growth in the 12 weeks to August 31, despite the “mixed summer weather”, owner C&C Group has reported.
Read the full story here.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel