All the way back in 1961 Roger and Mary Mead began farming in the Yeo Valley. They started out at Holt Farm, Blagdon with 30 cows, a few sheep and some arable crops. A few years later, Lag Farm, the farm next door, came up for sale and Roger and Mary decided to expand.

They bought the farm and very quickly opened a tearoom and a ‘pick your own’ fruit farm. Using left over fruit and skimmed milk from their clotted cream, they started making yogurts. They were so pleased with the results that before the year was over, Roger and Mary had taken to the road and were selling Yeo Valley yogurt around the valley in their Morris Minor.

Tim Mead (Roger and Mary’s son), helped seven local dairy farmers set up The Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative (OMSCo) and he committed to buying their milk, using it as a good opportunity to relaunch the Yeo Valley brand as organic.

This was 25 years ago in 1994, and we’ve been flying the flag for organic ever since! It’s right at the heart of everything we do at Yeo Valley so we’re going to be marking this momentous year in lots of different ways.