A new self-serve vending machine delivering fresh organic milk direct to customers from the farm has been launched at Gates Farm Shop in Cold Overton.

A steady stream of customers are collecting their daily supplies of the white stuff from the vending machine installed by PrOganic, a new enterprise launched by the Armitage family.

The family has worked in Rutland and Leicestershire for 30 years as part of the Keythorpe Farms Partnership and the PrOganic brand evolved after daughter Jess returned from university.

Creating the dairy in just a week from a converted lorry body, milk from the family's 200-strong organic-certified Holstein herd is pasteurised but undergoes no futher processing - leaving a delicious cream layer to form on the top.

"The family has a great passion for organic, sustainable agriculture and since converting Keythorpe Farms to organic in 2005 we have seen huge positive impacts; from soil and cow health improvements to the increased amounts of wildlife diversity," Jess told Oakham Nub News from the dairy in Oakham's Cold Overton Road.

"Through PrOganic we can share the fantastic produce of our organic sustainable livelihood.

"Our happy, certified organic cows graze diverse, clover-rich pastures overlooking Rutland Water.

"The herd is milked twice a day for 46 weeks of the year, with the remaining six weeks a winter holiday for our spring calving girls.

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"The cows are out at grass, weather permitting, for at least nine months of the year.

"The other three months they are housed in customised cow comfort sheds and fed on top quality organic grass and whole crop silage, which we grow on the farm.

"Their milk is 96% fat-free, is nutrient-rich including calcium, protein, iodine, potassium, phosphorus and vitamins B2 and B12 and can be regarded as a super-food."

The organic milk is sold for £1 per litre from the vending machine, which steam-cleans itself after every use, inside the Gates Farm Shop. Specially-designed re-usable glass bottles are also available, costing £2 each.

By cutting out the middleman PrOganic is also doing its bit to benefit the environment.

"Our self-service milk has very low food miles and if customers purchase our re-usable glass bottles it is collected in containers that can be reused time after time, reducing waste from single-use plastics," adds Jess.

PrOganic milk is available from Gates Farm Shop, Somerby Road, from 8am to 5.30pm on Monday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday.