Sark Dairy seeks £25k to restart milk production

2 December 2025

Stuart TolcherChannel Islands

News image — Sark has been importing milk from Guernsey since the dairy closed in April

BBC A rustic large sign stands in a grassy field near a wooden with what looks to be a slate roof, surrounded by leafy trees. The sign reads “Isle of Sark Dairy” in bold letters and features playful illustrations of a black-and-white cow with a puffin perched on its back, a glass milk bottle, and a traditional metal milk churn. Below the title, the sign lists offerings: fresh Sark milk, milkshakes, Sark cream, and notes that milking occurs daily at 5pm. It encourages visitors to fill or refill their own bottles using a 24-hour vending machine. An arrow points left with the words “Path to the dairy.” — Sark has been importing milk from Guernsey since the dairy closed in April

The Sark Dairy is working to raise about £25,000 for a new pasteuriser so new tenant farmers can move to the island and restart milk production.

The dairy has been closed since previous tenants Jason and Katherine Salisbury, who ran the operation for six years, returned to their family farm in Suffolk, taking their pasteuriser with them at the end of April.

Maj Christopher Beaumont, chairman of the trust that runs the dairy, said those involved were planning a local and online fundraising campaign to secure the necessary funds for the equipment which kills harmful bacteria in milk.

The dairy hopes to complete the purchase and have the new team in place for the start of 2026, bosses said.

Maj Beaumont, who is also Sark's Seigneur, said a deal with the Guernsey Dairy to use one of its pasteurisers had recently fallen though and, without a working unit, the dairy was unable to restart production.