The founders of a leading Welsh business were awarded with the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) Lifetime Achievement Award at a special dinner held at The Kinmel, Abergele on Friday 8 November 2024.
Gareth and Falmai Roberts, founders of the award-winning yoghourt business, Llaeth Y Llan, started their business from a converted calf shed at their farmhouse in Llannefydd, Denbighshire in 1985 - with the first trials of the product undertaken in the back of their airing cupboard!
Over the past three decades, the business has grown from strength to strength with a modern dairy designed and built in 1995 utilising a redundant farm granary and other outbuildings. By 2015, with the brand stocked throughout Wales in 4 major retailers and dozens of independent stores, the old dairy reached maximum capacity, and a larger production facility was designed and built on the Roberts’ farm. This facility was officially opened in 2017 by Lesley Griffiths AM, then Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs.
The business combines traditional values with modern techniques, producing 14 different flavours, using Welsh milk from the local area. The yoghourt is sold across Wales and England, with the business previously winning the Wales Food Producer of the Year award at the inaugural Wales Food and Drink Awards in 2022.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales’ Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Gareth and Falmai Roberts by FUW President, Ian Rickman, with acclaimed Welsh operatic baritone, John Ieuan Jones, also present on the evening to provide entertainment.
Commenting, Ian Rickman, FUW President said:
“The FUW was absolutely unanimous that Gareth and Falmai’s hugely successful business should be acknowledged, and we were delighted to host this dinner to honour their achievements and present them with this award.
From producing their first yoghourt pot, to their current success as one of Wales’ most recognisable food producers, Llaeth Y Llan is an outstanding example of Welsh enterprise, with local farms and food production at the heart of their success.
I congratulate them on this well-deserved achievement, and have no doubt that their business will continue to grow from strength to strength.”
Profits from the dinner, and the very successful auction, will be presented to the Apel Goffa Dai Jones Memorial Fund, which is administered by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society.