Dairy Crest has renewed its contract with delivery partner Wincanton, which will bring the relationship between the two businesses to 25 years.

The multi-year extension will see further improvements in the collection and handling of milk operations for Dairy Crest.

Under the deal, Wincanton will collect milk from over 500 producers across the South of England and Wales, delivering it to three major Dairy Crest dairies. In total the logistics provider will handle nearly one billion litres of milk per year for the dairy company.

Chris Kingshott, managing director of manufacturing at Wincanton, said: 'This renewal is testament to the close working relationship on a strategic and operational level that we have with Dairy Crest, where we have consistently delivered excellent service and year-on-year efficiency savings.

'A 25-year partnership is a fantastic achievement – particularly given the pace of change in the market over the last quarter of a century - and it reflects the hard work and excellent customer service ethic from the all of the team. We strive to bring continuous improvement and innovation to all of our customers no matter how long we have been working with them.' 

Dairy Crest’s managing director of dairies Mike Sheldon commented: 'We are pleased to announce the renewal of our contract with Wincanton, a long-term and proven partner who have consistently delivered an excellent service over a number of years.

'Dairy Crest has a long and proud tradition in the UK dairy industry supporting rural communities, working with our supplying to make our supply chain as efficient as possible and looking at ways to reduce our operational impact on the environment. Wincanton was able to clearly demonstrate how it could help us sustain and build on these commitments.' 

Wincanton has a long heritage in the milk industry. The business, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, began as a milk distribution company in 1925 and has maintained its presence in the market ever since.