From Farm to Cheese: Mona Dairy's Sustainable, High-Tech Journey

We’re proud to be working with Mona Dairy, a 21st century cheese production business with a vision to produce great quality cheese, at scale, and with the very highest sustainability standards. Core to the business is its ethos to deliver a better, fair, and transparent deal for farmers, whilst building their sustainability and environmental credentials and encouraging regenerative dairy practices.  

Mona Dairy has been built using the most modern production technology available and is working towards running entirely on renewable energy, including circular systems for inputs such as water and heat. This means transport also needed to be fully decarbonised. As a result, they’re the first UK processor to purchase a fleet of battery electric (BEV) tractor units and milk tankers! Mona Dairy is setting new standards for the industry, blending traditional and revolutionary methods to produce Gouda and Cheddar using milk from local Welsh farms.  

It will also offer those practising block spring calving a better deal. This lower cost model of farming dominates New Zealand’s dairy industry but is penalised in the UK. Processors in the UK are built to take a year-round supply and when faced with gluts of spring milk, prices drop. As a result, the low-cost block spring calving herds lose a great deal of potential income due to the harsh penalties on spring milk. It’s exciting to see Mona Dairy bucking the trend and paying a higher price for spring calving milk, as well as taking milk from other farms, and offering weekly payments and transparent pricing.

It's only natural that Mona Dairy seeks new technology that supports both their production and their farmer suppliers. Adopting Levno's milk monitoring technology will further enhance their sustainability efforts by integrating critical on-farm data into route optimisation and scheduling processes. As well as provide real-time insights to their farm suppliers, ensuring milk quality and reducing spoilage, with data accessible through an intuitive app.

Seen as the largest development in the UK food sector in recent times, it’s attracting a great deal of interest from across the industry globally and at Levno we’re excited to be part of Mona Dairy and their farm supplier’s journey!