Paul Winterton, General Manager

On Friday 17th February Langage Farm threw open its doors to their anaerobic digestion plant to launch a new eco-friendly food waste disposal solution for local firms. The Food:Logic scheme was unveiled to businesses via a presentation from Paul Winterton, General Manager of Langage Farm.

Waste management specialist, Alpha Logic and Langage Farm have joined forces in an
exclusive partnership which will see local food waste turned into electricity and organic fertiliser.

Alpha Logic will provide a daily mobile food waste collection service to businesses
in Plymouth and the surrounding areas, transporting the waste to the anaerobic
digestion facility built by Langage Farm. The waste is literally eaten by bacteria with methane gas produced as a by product of the process and that is used to power an electrical generator.

‘This is a true self sustainable business,’ said Paul Winterton. ‘At peak times, we are using only three quarters of the power produced by the process and thus we are able to sell the surplus to the grid. The by product from all of this is a bio fertiliser which is placed back on the land. So we are taking something like 45 tonnes of waste a day, producing power for ourselves and the national grid and producing 40 tonnes of bio fertisilier at the end of the process. This is an alternative, cleaner, greener more cost effective way of treating food waste than landfill or incineration.’

Langage Farm have invested over £4 million into the project and with the link up with
Alpha Logic, waste from businesses is now being dealt with in a far greener way than ever before.

Neil Stallard, Commercial Director at Alpha Logic said. ‘ It is well documented in the press that landfill sites are not only damaging the environment but are equally running out of capacity. With changes in legislation requiring businesses to divert their food waste away from landfill by 2020, alongside increasing landfill charges and taxes, it is vital that firms find alternative options for their food waste. We are delighted to have secured an exclusive deal with Langage Farm to allow us to offer an environmentally friendly food waste solution.’

Neil Stallard and Ben Phillips from Alpha Logic with Paul Winterton

To kick start the Food:Logic campaign. The first 150 businesses who pledge their
commitment to the scheme will gain accreditation and receive marketing collateral for them to promote their participation.

Paul continues, ‘This will be of interest to schools, hotels, restaurants, bars, care homes and hospitals, in fact anyone who has to prepare food or has to deal with organic waste. This is a truly green project; even the waste heat from the generator is extracted and used at the factory. The farm no longer has to rely on non organic fertilisers, we are self sufficient in electricity and are removing 45 tonnes of waste a day from the disposal system and we can cope with a lot more.’

Quality products are the cream of the crop at Langage Farm

It’s also having a go at the quantity with a clutch of contracts with multiples like Waitrose and Tesco as well as some major projects pending.

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• Langage Farm general manager Paul Winterton is steering the business on a growth-focused course with announcements due shortly  on some major contracts

But, if it came down to a choice between volume and quality, general manager Paul Winterton is adamant about which is the most important  – particularly in a challenging economic climate.

“People may have cut back on their spending on big items but if you look at what they are doing, they still want a bit of luxury and they are happy to spend on our products,” he said.

Traditionally a farming business, diversification for Langage Farm came in 1980 when owners the Harvey family wanted to generate additional income in order to pay for their children’s education.

The late Elizabeth Harvey started to make extra thick double and clotted which she initially supplied to friends and family, who gave such positive feedback that she decided to start making products on a more commercial basis.

Twelve years ago, the manufacturing operations were based two miles from its current base, on the farm, and the Harvey family were faced with a difficult decision – whether to maintain production levels or to move to bigger premises and exploit the growth potential the business clearly had.

They opted for growth, bringing in Liverpool-born Paul as general manager and building a purpose-built factory that allowed it to upscale production to compete for national and international contracts. It now makes a range of products including: ice cream; clotted cream; frozen yoghurt; cottage cheese; creme fraiche; ice cream bombs and yoghurt with further lines in development.

The business has grown to the point that it now employs 45 people, has a number of high-profile contracts, an ever-expanding list of products and a recently-launched ‘Moo bar’ concept of an ice cream parlour-style frozen yoghurt outlet.

Last year saw the business develop a UK first when it opened an anaerobic digester to generate energy both from farm waste and household food waste – a move which is seeing it reduce energy bills and open up new markets.

Langage has a herd of 280 pedigree Jersey and Guernsey cows, which the business is seeking to increase to 350 over the next two to three years in order to increase volumes.

As well as an increase in capacity, the business is also targeting new contracts and products which, if successful, would see it recruit an additional 20 or so employees.

It is set to finalise two major contracts by the end of this month, including one with a well-known coffee chain that Paul believes could mean significant revenue for Langage.

Its current turnover is around £4.2 million and there are plans to grow this by £2 million over the next five years.

But while it is clearly ambitious and is working with some big names, the business remains true to its roots as a family-run enterprise, with Mrs Harvey’s son, James, now at the helm.

“We have been here eight years and built it with five times the capacity of the previous farm base. Once we got the site right, it started to move quite quickly,” said Paul.

But just because it is ambitious and has the capacity to handle large contracts, it doesn’t mean that all contracts with multiples are in the firm’s best interests and Paul said the firm was not afraid to turn down large contracts if the numbers did not stack up.

“We turned down a £3 million contract 18 months ago because it was not commercially viable to do it,” he said.

“We’re not afraid to say no (to big contracts) – there’s no point in looking at contracts that are not a two way street.”

As a result, the business has grown steadily, with major growth in the last five years, and a deliberate approach of not becoming reliant on individual, large contracts by focusing on delis and other independent retailers as well as supermarkets.

“Working with the multiples, it’s a very volatile playing field. It doesn’t matter what people say, it’s down to the commercial reality of what the bigger organisations  would expect. The contracts are only as secure as your relationship with the buyer,” he said.

“The key thing is not being overwhelmed  when you’re working with larger contracts,  to hold your own and to have a vision for your business.”

In the run up to Christmas, much of its manufacturing focus was on clotted cream but, with New Year diets still  under way, this has now switched to production of cottage cheese.

The business has made frozen yoghurt for the past 15 years and believes that this low-fat alternative to ice cream offers huge commercial potential for increasingly health conscious consumers.

After setting up a successful Moo Bar frozen yoghurt and fruit counter at the China Fleet Club which is strongly branded with the distinctive Langage Farm cows, it is now seeking to roll out the concept on a franchise basis.

Two more Moo Bars will be opening in February, in Paignton and North Devon, with plans also under way to open an outlet in Plymouth and the possibility of opening one in London.

“It’s been very popular. It’s an area that families gravitate to,” Paul said.

Langage Farm is in the final stages of development for additional products including rice pudding, panna cotta and creme brulee which have already attracted interest from suppliers.

It is also trialling the idea of flavoured clotted cream, with taste tests set up for strawberry and chocolate varieties so far yielding encouraging results.

“It’s something that’s not been done before and its working,” he added.

As well as developing its own new products, Langage Farm also works closely with local schools to come up with new ideas.

This has seen the company try out new ideas including brie and black pepper and cheese ice cream after children were challenged to come up with new ideas in a competition involving 400 schools.

Future talent is a key goal for the business and, one suspects, a personal goal for Paul who himself was once told by a school careers teacher that his aim of becoming prime minister was not realistic.

He believes that young people should be ambitious and that the food industry offers a strong platform for them to realise these ambitions.

To bring talented youngsters into the industry, Paul would like to see a South West university devise a manufacturing degree in order to produce industry-ready entrants to the sector.

“The food industry is often seen as  a secondary career and it isn’t. We produce some fantastic foods in Devon but it’s difficult to recruit people into the lower level” he said.

Another issue that Paul is passionate about is promoting Devon as a food and drink destination, something he believes has massive untapped potential.

He is a board director of the sector group Devon Food and Drink and is keen to spearhead efforts for the sector to raise its profile.

“Devon is the food basket of the UK but we don’t market it very well. I’ve been in Devon for 26 years and I have been astonished by the produce that Devon makes and the skills we have got. I’m really disappointed that the rest of the world doesn’t know about it,” he said. The last year has also seen Langage Farm open its £4 million anaerobic digester plant which the business has spent the past five years researching and investigating different systems and processes before progressing, in a display of commitment to its environmental credentials that is unusual from a relatively small business.

“It is one of only six in the country and the only site to have a farm with an AD plant so you get the circle where what is produced in the plant goes back onto the field,” said Paul.

“We believe that we are the only dairy company to have farm, manufacturing and AD on one site. It’s a full circle, from cow to plate and preventing waste from going into landfill – it’s a unique option. It’s a first in UK and, possibly, Europe.”

As well as processing slurry and farm waste, the AD plant takes in waste from across Devon in a contract with Viridor. As the waste decomposes, it creates a biogas which is used for energy.

Langage’s factory is totally powered by the energy generated but although the investment is expected to save around £60,000 a year on energy bills, Paul is adamant that this was not the main motivation.

“It was not done from a point of view of financial gain – it was done from a business and ethical point of view,” he said.

 

A cow named Hyacinth is leading a campaign to ‘green’ a city by disposing of all its food waste by anaerobic digestion at Europe’s first combined low-carbon energy centre and manufacturing farm.

Problems with a reducing milk yield from a herd of Jersey and Guernsey cows, which includes Hyacinth, has led to spectacular green energy solution at Langage Farm, at Lee Mill, on the outskirts of Plymouth, Devon and moved on to a powerful waste disposal campaign.

Langage has been a working farmstead for 900 years and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The Harvey family started making clotted cream on their AGA stove and selling on to friends and local stores.

Full-scale processing began in 1980 with a £1.8 million on a new food processing facility in 2004.

The company now has a turnover of £3.3 million and places products with major retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons. It makes a range of diary produce including clotted cream, pouring creams, yoghurt and cheeses as well as a frozen range of ice creams, sorbets and yoghurts.

As production increased milk yield reduced and drought exacerbated the problem. It was found the soil was compacted and lacked structure and as a consequence the roots of grass were short and tended to grow to the surface instead of driving deep. Artificial fertiliser made the problem worse.

The solution was to build an anaerobic digester, which would not only produce high-grade fertiliser for the farm but also meet all of the company’s energy needs.

The AD plant is now running and the statistics are impressive. The methane extracted from the plant is converted into electricity and powers the whole plant. (Methane gas is estimated to be 21 times higher in its greenhouse effect than CO2.)

Renewable heat and power supplied to the food processing factory has eliminated the use of 40,500 litres of heating oil and 867144 kWh of electricity from the grid each year which are estimated to produce the equivalent of 100 and 470 tonnes of CO2 respectively

And it has reduced the use of inorganic fertilisers in primary agricultural production thereby saving approximately 300,000 kg CO2.

The current digester input is 3,000 tonnes of farm waste manure, 1,000 tonnes of end of season crops, 300 tonnes of factory whey, 500 tonnes of factory washings and 12,000 tonnes of kitchen and trade waste.

The digestate is formed after 69 days and the output is 500 kw of electricity, 750 kwh of heat and 13,000 tonnes of fertiliser, which is used on Langage and local farms.

Currently the plant is working at three-quarters of its 20,000 annual capacity which can be doubled with the addition of another digester at a cost of around £500,000.

The farm is working with Plymouth University to modify the composition of the fertiliser to increase nutrients such as potassium or carbon so it is matched to the crop which is grown.

Grass treated with the AD digestate remains in its ‘juvenile’ state longer so it remains sweet and juicy, which is exactly what the cows like and not stringy. They eat more, it is more nutritious and hence the herd’s yield rises.

The project has vastly reduced the carbon footprint of the farm and Langage General Manager Paul Winterton has a clear, positive message.

He says: “We are doing this is to be environmentally friendly. We should be the first environmentally friendly energy centre and manufacturing farm in the UK, if not Europe. By building this plant we will be self-sufficient.

“When complete, we will be processing 40 tonnes a day and then the site can offer a green alternative to land fill for local councils, hotels and other food processors to get rid of their byproduct.”

In 1996 46% of methane gas came from landfill, by far the highest source of the gas in the UK. The Kyoto protocol has stated that a reduction of 12.5% of these gases must be achieved by 2008-2012.

Langage Engineering Manager Gary Jones says: “The process is simple enough. Sources of organic matter are brought to the digester and any packaging and non-organic material is removed. Then it is macerated, as the smaller the particles are the better, this allows for better digestion of the bacteria and complies with animal by product regulations.

“The organisms which eat their way through this material produce methane gas as a byproduct. This can be siphoned off and used to power an engine which in turn powers an electrical generator. This will be able to run Langage Farm, both the dairy and the farm itself, and have three highly beneficial spin offs.

“There’ll be a lot of waste heat from this generator which we can extract and use to cook with at the factory. Secondly, there should also be a slight excess of power which will go back to the National Grid. Thirdly the only waste product from the process is the organic digested material which when dried is a perfect fertilizer. So this is a truly green recycling project.”

Now the AD project is running efficiently the team has set its sights on a much bigger target – the disposal of all of Plymouth’s food waste via anaerobic digestion.

This ambition sets them against Plymouth city council plans to build a huge energy-from-waste plant at the Devonport naval base.

The giant incinerator, due to transform Plymouth’s dockyard landscape, was given the go-ahead after the city’s planning councillors voted 7-5 in favour of the plans despite local opposition.

It is estimated that more than 250 lorries loaded with waste will travel to the site every day. The incinerator will handle household waste from across Plymouth, South and West Devon, the South Hams, Teignbridge and Torbay, plus some commercial and industrial rubbish.

Up to 265,000 tonnes of rubbish will be burnt each year, generating steam which will drive a turbine and create electricity for the local community.

The Langage team believes incineration plays an important part in managing waste. Paul says: “Incineration has particularly strong benefits for the treatment of certain waste types in niche areas such as clinical waste and certain hazardous wastes where pathogens and toxins can be destroyed by high temperatures.

“By removing food waste from the rubbish incinerator plant, power-production efficiency can jump by more than 20% as the lower calorific waste is taken out of the incineration process and bio digested in the AD plant.”

Gary says that food waste contains between 70 – 80% water and it takes 750W to boil and evaporate each tonne. 10,000 tons waste food will equal 5,625MW of heat or the equivalent of 281,250,000 modern 20-watt bulbs.

Plymouth alone produces 25,000 tons of organic waste a year and a major part of this could be dealt with by the Langage AD plant.

The campaign has been launched and the battle has begun across the waste depots of the South West.

The photography of Jeremy Rata has captured the essence of Langage Farm. The calf pens gave him some great shots, this little one seems to be licking his lips in readiness for some Langage cream.

But of course, some of the babies do need a helping hand.

The end product, top quality Langage Farm ice  cream.

Langage Farm has had a visitor, top Devon photographer, Jeremy Rata. Jeremy’s photographic prowess has just earned him a place in the National Portrait Gallery. One of his recent pictures from a trip to Afghanistan has been has been on show at this prestigious venue. But just before his trip to Kabul, Jeremy dropped into the farm and turned his camera on the cows.

Jeremy’s interest in photography was sparked in the 70′s by his Uncle who is a professional Canon dealer (York Cameras of London) and an amazing photographer.  

‘Every year when I was small he would give me something to do with photography and to this day he still does!’ said Jeremy. ‘My main areas of interest are sports and portrait photography.’
This is still a hobby for him as Jeremy is also the Managing Director of The Bovey Castle Hotel, Devon’s premier five star hotel which happens to serve both Langage Farm ice cream and yoghurts.

China Fleet Country Club has joined forces with Langage Farm to bring unique children’s ice cream and natural yogurt bar experience to Cornwall, called the Moo Bar.

To celebrate this unique relationship, the partnership offered children Golden Tickets to attend the grand opening of the Moo Bar on the 1st November. Three lucky winners received a year’s worth of Langage Farm ice cream from the Moo Bar and a VIP tour of the production unit where the ice cream is produced.

The Moo Bar is the first Langage Farm venture into selling an onsite frozen natural yoghurt that puts the customer in the driving stool. It will also give them the control of how they want it blended too.

David Pover, Food and Beverage Manager of China Fleet said, “As a family club that prides itself on wellbeing and quality, this latest range of natural yogurts reflects the current trends for providing healthy options alongside fitness. At less than 3% fat, this gives an alternative option to the popular Langage Farm range of ice cream currently available at China Fleet Country Club”.

Paul Winterton, General Manager of Langage Farm commented, “This is a fantastic new opportunity showing how two respected and quality local businesses can work together in a difficult financial environment and yet still push the boundaries on innovation. The whole family can enjoy this unique experience and have lots of fun trying new exciting flavours of our product in a health conscious way, in a luxurious and relaxed environment.”

The opening event was an incredible success but there was a bit of a mystery. Only two ‘year’s supply tickets’ were found? One is still out there!

Visit China Fleet Country Club’s website at

http://www.china-fleet.co.uk/index.php/dining/the-brasserie/moo-bar or call the events team on 01752 848668.

One of the most famous board games in the world has had a face lift and a relocation with the Plymouth edition of Monopoly having just been launched. If you look carefully, Devon’s favourite ice cream is featured on the cover……this is the picture, bottom left hand corner….

Langage Farm have always realised that tastes change so they have decided to remove some of the old flavours from their comprehensive list of high quality dairy products. Say goodbye to Cherries ‘n’ cream, Choc Chip Orange, Credit Crunch Ice Cream, Mango, Pilgrims Passion, Pistachio and Tia Maria. But stand by for some stunning new tastes.  

White Choco Crunch, white chocolate ice cream with a generous sprinkling of chocolate coated malt balls and white chocolate flakes.

Chocotella, delicious milk chocolate ice cream swirled with a rich dark chocolate, hazelnut and wafer sauce.

Bubblegum! Ice blue bubble gum ice cream with a pink bubble gum swirl. The children will love it!

Bourbon Vanilla Pod. This is one for the connoisseur, the ultimate vanilla ice cream infused with the finest vanilla pods.

Sticky Toffee Pudding. Yes, great two great puddings in one. Clotted cream ice cream enriched with toffee sponge pieces.

    Lemon Drizzle Cake, a refreshing lemon ice cream swirled with a lemon sponge sauce.

Eton Mess!  Yes the classic sweet transformed by Langage Farm with strawberry conserve and mini meringue in a creamy smooth double cream ice cream.

We have even brought in a new sorbet, dark, rich and full of flavour…..Chocolate.

And just when you thought, we’ve thought of everything..a new idea for breakfast. Blueberries, granola and raisins in frozen yoghurt, a brilliant idea called Good Morning Devon. The latest way to start the day from Langage Farm. 

Devon dairy launches anaerobic digestion facility to fuel clotted cream production.

Lord Henley and Gary Jones from Langage Farm

A Devonshire dairy has officially opened a £3.4m anaerobic digestion (AD) facility that will turn food waste from around the county into the energy that will help produce its clotted cream, ice cream crème fraiche and yoghurt.

The facility at Langage Farm, Plymouth, received £1.2m of funding from the Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme and was opened by Lord Henley, Minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on Friday 1 July. Continue reading →

The early days of construction.

Langage Farm Anaerobic Digestion Plant will be officially opened by Lord Henley, Parliamentary under Secretary of State, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on July 1^st 2011.

The new plant, which is licensed to process 20,000 tonnes of material per year, received its validation permit in April 2011 and is pleased to announce its official opening. The plant received funding from the Environmental Transformation Fund, a programme to tackle climate change which is administered by WRAP on behalf of DECC and DEFRA. Whilst showcasing innovative technology, Langage AD will satisfy Langage Farm Dairy Products’ heat and electrical energy requirements while aiding in the diversion of 20,000t of organic waste from landfill as well as the generation of 500kW/h of renewable energy. This remarkable technology aims to be a flagship project in the newly emerging UK anaerobic digestion market and further hopes to aid the promotion and use of energy, heat and fertilizer from renewable sources.