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The latest news from Calon Wen.
January 1, 2007

Local organic dairy Co-operative industry first

Calon Wen Receive Ethical Trade Recognition from Soil Association

Calon Wen, the Welsh organic dairy co-operative has become the first organic dairy company in the UK to be awarded the Ethical Trade Organic Standards Certification by the Soil Association for its organic milk in recognition of its fair and ethical trade practices.

The announcement comes as the Soil Association prepares for its annual conference in Cardiff later this week (26/27 January).

Richard Tomlinson, an organic dairy farmer just outside Wrexham and Chairman of Calon Wen said:

“We are delighted that we achieved the Ethical Trade certification in recognition of what we have always strived to achieve at Calon Wen.  When we set out almost seven years ago, we wanted to offer something simple - healthy organic milk with a direct link to the farm and the people who produce it.

“As a group of family farmers, it matters to us what we feed our children and how we treat the environment which will one day be theirs. This is why we have chosen the organic route with low food miles and complete traceability from the farm to the customer, and we are proud that this new symbol now confirms and recognises our efforts.”

The Soil Association Ethical Trade Organic Standards can apply to any organic company and the aim of the scheme is to ensure fair and equitable trading and employment with socially and environmentally responsible practices within the organic food chain.  

The standards encompass issues such as traceability, employment policies, trading relationships, labelling and social and cultural roles.

The certification recognises ethically-based employment conditions that make sure that fair wages are paid, hours of work are not excessive and the workforce are given a say in what goes on.

Such recognition is all the more important in the farming industry where farmers often work extremely long hours and in the case of non-organic dairy farmers, are sometimes paid prices below the cost of production.


Just last year, the Soil Association commented that the popular stereotype does not normally put ‘optimism’ and ‘farmer’ together and Calon Wen has been living proof for seven years that this is an outdated stereotype.

As the first branded organic milk to be sold by a major supermarket, Calon Wen are set for continuing success as customers can buy their organic milk in Welsh and border towns, at major supermarkets including Tesco and Morrison, and other independent retailers throughout the region.            
Richard added “Calon Wen is made up of 20 organic family farms producing our milk in the heart of the Welsh countryside.  We are only a small company and the people who drink our milk are incredibly important to us. We milk our cows ourselves and our milk is simply pasteurised, bottled and sold. The Ethical Trade symbol will let everyone that drinks our milk know that our farmers, our farm workers and the people bottling our milk are all benefiting from the sale of our milk and that we are also putting something back into the local community. What we aim for is simplicity and traceability, and hopefully giving everyone a bit of a taste of the simple life”