A PAIR of dedicated dairy farmer brothers are making moo-ves in the industry by bringing Scotland's first ever mobile milk vending machine to the people of Kilmacolm.

Brothers Andrew and Calum Telfer run High Branchal Farm with their parents James and Maureen.

They sell the milk produced by their 180 cows to Muller, but over the last couple of years they've been thinking about how they can take back more control of their product.

They've now set up Moovin' Milk - a mobile trailer where customers can fill glass bottles with freshly-pasteurised milk, straight from their farm.

The brothers hoped to launch the business in May 2020 but were forced to delay their plans due to coronavirus restrictions.

They finally managed to launch the business in November and have already built up a loyal customer base.

For Andrew, 34, Moovin' Milk is all about getting milk 'how it used to be' to customers.

He said: "Our cows are milked at five in morning, the milk is pasteurised, and then it's out for sale for nine.

"It's as fresh as it can possibly be.

"There's nothing else added to it.

"When we were starting out, the milk had to go through a rigorous testing process.

"Dairy farmers always have to fight against the big companies to get products into supermarkets and get the best possible price for them.

"Our margins are getting tighter and tighter.

"This is our way of trying to keep a bit of control over our product."

The brothers say they are very aware of the impact single use plastic has on the environment and the business is helping to reduce that waste.

Customers can bring their own glass bottles and sanitise them, or can buy litre or half-litre bottles from the trailer which can be reused.

As the milk makes it way from the farm out onto the trailer within four hours, food miles are also being significantly reduced.

Calum, 28, said he's pleased that customers are already recognising the positive impact they're having on the environment.

He added: "Some companies milk the cows and the milk is then sent down to England to be pasteurised and brought back up to Scotland again sell.

"That's an incredible amount of food miles.

"We're bringing it directly to customers within hours of the cows being milked.

"It's great to see customers bringing back our bottles as well.

"It shows that people are thinking about the environment and we're helping them with that."

Calum and Andrew went to Kilmacolm Primary and Port Glasgow High School.

They're now fifth generation dairy farmers and have a 112-year pedigree herd of Holstein Freisian cows - the oldest herd in the UK.

Their sister Shona McGregor is technical adviser for the business.

The brothers currently bring the trailer to sites in Renfrewshire and to outside the Cargill Centre in Kilmacolm - and they're hoping to expand to Greenock.

They're also thinking about other products they could add to the Moovin' Milk range, like ice cream and yoghurt.

Andrew says the pandemic hasn't hampered their workload in any way - and he's hopeful that the mobile machines keep moo-ving the business on.

Andrew added: "We haven't stopped - cows still need to be milked.

"A lot of things have stopped in our path but that just made us even more determined to make this work.

"We're getting to know people who are coming in to try it and it's clear that there's still a great appreciation out there for farmers and the work they do."