Dairy faces spending £30,000 to replace missing milk crates

The dairy has carried out numerous appeals to find missing blue and orange crates in recent years.

An appeal last summer saw about 1,000 crates returned, but many were damaged. Since then, the situation has become worse.

‘We are now nearly 3,000 milk crates short, which makes planning weekend and Bank Holiday production processes extremely challenging,’ said dairy production manager Dave Domaille.

‘The situation has reached a point where we are now insisting that our customers return the empty crates supplied to them before we can fulfil their next order.

‘This is obviously impacting their businesses too as many retail outlets use the crates to store milk. We simply don’t have the surplus stock to operate differently. This is an ongoing issue and is impacting the dairy operationally and financially.’

The crates are marked as property of Guernsey Dairy, with a warning that unlawful possession is an offence. It is well-known that crates are being used for purposes other than for transporting milk.

Each crate costs the dairy around £15 to replace – a cost that has gone up considerably over the past 12 months. They are used to make up orders for milk distributors and are often used to deliver to restaurants, hotels, shops, and supermarkets.

‘Each milk crate makes thousands of trips to and from shops. Some last more than 20 years,’ said Mr Domaille.

‘They are extremely strong and durable when allowed to do their job, and not removed from the milk delivery system for other purposes.’

The dairy issued an appeal in 2018, 2020 and again in 2022 and as a result more than 1,000 crates were returned each time.

The crates remain the property of Guernsey Dairy. Islanders can return crates by leaving them carefully inside the dairy’s main gate on the left-hand side of the entrance by the bike parking.

n Anyone spotting a crate can call 01481 227777, so it can be picked up.