Farmers turning to vending machines for 24/7 boost

Farmers say vending machines are helping them sell their produce directly to the public and be "a bit more in control" of their business.

Tom Pemberton, who runs a dairy farm in Lancashire, said social media videos about his self-service machines were "making milk sexy again" and added that they have also allowed him to educate people on where their milk comes from.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said more farmers were using "innovative ways" to sell their produce.

Spokesman Adam Briggs said diversifying allowed farmers to "seek new markets and underpin the profitability of their business".

Pemberton, a fifth-generation farmer, has 150 milking cows on his farm in Lytham St Annes.

Speaking in a field surrounded by his very friendly herd, he said he initially started with vending machines in 2016 before setting up a purpose-built parlour last year.

He said one of the key benefits was being able to leave it open 24/7.

"We get more customers after 17:00 BST than before which is mad to even think about," Pemberton revealed.

"It's quite big for a farm to open the doors for everyone to come and all through the night, but everyone is really, really respectful."

He said: "It's about selling direct, controlling the price at the end and just being a bit more in control as dairy farmers.

"We struggle to get bigger as a dairy farm, so if we can change things on the sales side we don't have to produce more."

Pemberton said it was also important for people to learn about the origins of their milk.

"Young kids will think milk comes from the supermarket - I think we're changing that with social media as they're finding out that milk, meat and food has to come from a farm.

"It's really educational for kids and I think that's important as well, again opening the farm up."

Pemberton said social media was an increasingly significant source of business.

"We'll get busy one weekend and it's because someone's done a video on Tiktok and it's gone a little bit viral, and then more people come.

"You have no idea, you won't see the TikTok but it's been great, the response has been fantastic.

"It's just making milk sexy again, you could say!"

It's not just dairy farmers who are spotting the potential of vending machines.

Near Chester, Tom Cooke is a beef farmer with a herd of 500 cows over two sites.

He has only recently started selling his produce through an on-farm vending machine.

Cooke has a refrigerated machine selling his beef as well as some local cheese, while a freezer sells meat and locally produced ice cream.

He said: "We've always been into the idea of sourcing quality local produce and supporting other local farmers so we just thought 'Why don't we do it ourselves?'

"So much has changed in agriculture during the last 12 months that we just thought 'Why not try and keep some of those pounds locally for ourselves and cut out the middleman?'"

He said it also allowed him to sell all the cuts of meat from his cows, as well as other products such as fat for dripping and tallow and bones for stock.

"Agriculture is facing a lot of challenges at the moment and if people want to buy British, they've got to support local farmers and farmers need to be profitable.

"It's been a big investment for us but we're hopeful it's going to bring an additional income in, which is going to help secure the future of the farm."

He added customers also appreciated being able to see where their produce has come from.

"It's that 'field to fork' journey," he said.

Adam Briggs from the NFU said that while farmers were "resilient, that resilience is being put under more and more pressure".

He explained: "Some of our members have diversified into hospitality, others are using the landscape to draw people in, some sell direct through farm shops, box schemes and vending machines and there are a host of other innovative ways to boost the bottom line to try and drive profitability and growth."

Briggs added that diversification can help farmers to create new jobs and boost the local economy.

"We know that resilience in farming has never been more important, which is why we're seeing more farm businesses diversify so their businesses can thrive and grow in the future and become more productive and profitable," he said.

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