An eco-friendly farm with links to Rabbie Burns has created an innovative new “zero-waste” chocolate milk.
Award-winning Mossgiel Farm in Ayrshire, which specialises in organic dairy, has launched the delicious new drink claiming it is the most natural chocolate milk on the market. The product is made from waste cocoa husks sourced from artisanal chocolatier Bare Bones – whose chocolate was described by TV chef Rick Stein as the best he’s ever tasted.
We previously told how ground-breaking Mossgiel Farm became the first dairy farm in Britain to eliminate single-use plastics, returning to classic glass bottles. Led by dad-of-four Bryce Cunningham, the farm also switched to electric delivery vans and uses biomass to heat their estate.
When Cunningham took over the family business after his dad and grandfather passed away in 2013-14, a milk price crash put the firm on the edge of collapse. But he turned the farm’s fortunes around by going green, organic and local.
Scotland’s bard Robert Burns famously farmed Mossgiel – just outside Mauchline – with his brother from 1784-86, composing his beloved ‘To a Mouse’ poem there about man’s impact on nature. Bryce told the Record: “We’ve been eager to develop a Mossgiel chocolate milk for some time now, but it was important that we created a drink that is not only natural, but also sustainable.
“Like there’s a problem with the dairy industry we’re trying to solve, there’s also a problem with chocolate milk – it’s full of rubbish. We wanted to create something that was quality, using real chocolate not just nonsense and E numbers.
“We are taking what would otherwise be waste and turning it into a fresh drink – and with not an E number in sight, natural cream on top and completing a zero-waste cycle.”
A unique brewing technique will see the cocoa husks infused into Mossgiel’s creamy, organic milk along with raw organic sugar – with the drink to be dubbed “Brown Cow Milk”. Bryce added: “I grew up hearing tales of people thinking chocolate milk comes from brown cows, rather than cocoa and sugar.
“It’s always stuck with me – why not make it a reality? Ayrshire cows are of course brown, so there is some truth to it now: this chocolate milk certainly does come from brown cows – and it doesn’t cost the planet to drink it.”
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