Buffalo Farm receives £500k grant
It was awarded the £500,000 in grant funding from the Scottish Government’s Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation (FPMC) grant scheme.
The 4,000 sq m facility, located at an old dairy farm at Bankhead of Raith, will become the new home for the Buffalo Farm’s dedicated milking parlour, processing plant and sheds for the new herd of Dairy Buffalo.
The official planning application for the facility will be submitted in the coming days and the successful grant funding now allows the company to finalise its business plans.
The proposal comes as a result of years of planning and having to turn away hundreds of enquiries for Buffalo Mozzarella over the past 12 years – including one from TV chef Gordon Ramsay.
Owner Steve Mitchell said: “We have carried out extensive research, travelling thousands of miles around Europe to understand exactly what is involved in the farming and processing of a herd of Dairy Buffalo, as well as understanding the best business strategies for bringing the product to market.
“We are looking to start the building programme this autumn and have the sheds and milking parlour completed by early 2019, so we are under a bit of pressure to get things moving quickly. We have therefore strengthened our team by linking up with Maurizio Brugnoli, who has become our new product development director and will head up the development of the mozzarella project.
He added: “We have come an awful long way from when I first started selling buffalo meat at farmers’ markets some 12 years ago and I cannot wait to start the next chapter of this amazing journey. We will continue to look for investment partners to ensure we can deliver the best possible Buffalo Mozzarella on the market and we are currently exploring a few exciting options.”
