A Cornish Business
Trewithen Dairy was founded and run by the Clarke family, who owned Greymare Farm in the Glynn Valley since 1976, and started crafting dairy products there in March 1994. It’s taken all this experience, along with plenty of hard work and patience, to build the business and to produce the delicious dairy products that are at the heart of everything we do.
Our HISTORY
In the early days the Clarkes had their own herd. Bill and Rachel would bottle the milk once the children were in bed and deliver it early the next morning. They cooked the clotted cream themselves, in open trays and potted it by hand. Their customers loved all of the Cornish dairy goodness and soon the Clarkes were supplying more and more happy customers.
By 2001 the milk bottling and cream making side of the business had become so successful that a big decision had to be made. To continue dairy farming or switch completely over to processing milk. It wasn’t an easy decision, but the family sold their herd and moved full time into producing milk, cream and, more recently, butter and yoghurt.
Trewithen today
The founders sold the business in June 2024 to the Ehrmann group, an independent 3rd Generation family-owned business, which is one of Germany’s leading dairy companies with over 100 years of heritage and a history of innovation in the production of high-quality dairy products.
Moving forward it will be very much business as usual. We will continue to be known as Trewithen Dairy and Ehrmann has been very clear that it is committed to harnessing our Cornish provenance and investing in the growth of Trewithen’s Cornish dairy products. While our founders, Bill and Rachel, are retiring, both Paul Berne CEO and Francis Clarke are personally committed to Trewithen future development assuming long-term senior leadership roles. We thank Bill and Rachel for their 30 year dedication to the business and wish them a very much well deserved retirement. You can read more on our blog here.
meet the founders
Francis Clarke
Meet Francis Clarke. Current Chief Procurement Officer of Trewithen Dairy. Francis has been involved in the business for over 15 years. Passionate about dairy and sustainability, you’ll often find Francis waxing lyrical about the carbon neutral potential of regenerative farming or the latest developments in electric vehicles! In his personal time, Francis enjoys running on the Cornish coast path and spending time with his wife and three children on the Cornish beaches – he feels most alive when outdoors – favourite quote is ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing’.
Rachel Clarke
Meet Rachel Clarke. Co-founder of Trewithen Dairy. Our story starts with Rachel, as she started making clotted cream back in 1994 using the milk brought in from their own herd. Bill and Rachel would bottle the milk once their four children were in bed and deliver it early the next morning. They cooked the clotted cream themselves, in open trays and potted it by hand. Soon, the Clarkes were supplying more and more happy customers. By 2001, the milk bottling and cream making side of the business had become so successful that the family made the brave decision to sell their herd and moved full time into producing milk, cream, butter and yoghurt.
Bill Clarke
Meet Bill Clarke, co-founder with his wife Rachel. Bill Clarke started his career as a dairy farmer and still runs his farm. He has been an officeholder in the NFU with various chairman positions, including chairman of Cornwall, the South West and a national NFU committee.
