Mona Dairy - the new cheese on the block
Firstly, more positive news from Chris Walkland on the milk market report this week, then Will & Ben are joined by Ronald Akkerman, co-founder and CEO of Mona Dairy, as well as Hayley Campbell-Gibbons, Kite’s Head of Sustainability, to discuss cheese production and sustainability. Ronald introduces the business, how it came to be as well as their ambition for the future. He talks through the challenging landscape for a cheese producer including the need to have intelligent conversations with retailers about long-term certainty and security of supply. Wanting to take a lead on sustainability, he explains what they are doing to head towards net zero, including the use of electric haulage and focus on an efficient factory. Hayley outlines the current and future sustainability agenda for dairy production and the need to add value to absorb some of the costs, referencing the recent cheese report and the need to identify market opportunities, converting milk to cheese as efficiently as possible.