Outside work: On the rare times I’m away from the factory, I love spending time with my children. I also enjoy swimming An intolerance to lactose may lead to digestive symptoms such as abdominal pain or diarrhoea after milk consumption. To keep up with growth, we have had to continually invest in the premises and in the processing equipment. We are always investing in tanks, valves, linear machines – any kind of automation, in fact. This may be beneficial for weight control as it may reduce the number of calories consumed. 16,17,18

Research has also found that in some instances, probiotics may also help reduce the symptoms and the severity of the common cold. 28 While the Asian shopper remains important to us, and our leading brand is the Natural Bio yogurt in the 1kg format, we’ve since seen a massive growth of white British people using our products for things like smoothies, condiment sauces and dips. Many types or brands of yoghurt may contain high sugar content, particularly those that are low in fat. Another study found that yoghurt that included Bifidobacteria saw improvements in symptoms connected to digestion. 24 One way is to use some premade live yoghurt, which is known as a ‘starter’, other ways include using dry bacteria or probiotic powder. 3Another thing we’ve done is bring a lot of our testing in-house. We’ve also just taken on a food technologist. All of these things help to bring more control to the manufacturing process – instead of sending samples out, we can now do everything in our laboratory. Live yoghurt contains live bacteria or probiotics that have either been part of a starter culture or added after the yoghurt has been pasteurised. According to the NHS, probiotics are live bacteria that are often described as “good” or “friendly” bacteria which are promoted as having various health benefits. You need to have a strong competitive edge to stay in the supermarkets, and we believe we have it. And there is plenty of growth available for us. While we have a great nationwide reach, there is still the potential for more. Asda is a case in point – we are in about 200 of its 525 stores.

This is why regularly including live yoghurt in your diet may be a great way of keeping your gut healthy. Traditionally, a live yoghurt starter uses a well-balanced blend of bacteria that consumes sugars that naturally occur in milk – this bacterium turns lactose that is present in milk to lactic acid, which in turn changes the taste and texture.You only have to walk down a supermarket yogurt aisle to see it is an exceptionally saturated place. Retailers also want to offer greater choice and variety than ever before, which presents both an opportunity and a threat to manufacturers. Rachel’s Organic being delisted from Tesco last year was just one example. Probiotics are said to be great for promoting gut health and according to Harvard School of Public Health in the US, lowering the risk of conditions such as:

Calcium can contribute to the maintenance of normal bones and teethwhen used as part of a healthy, balanced diet. As pointed out earlier, live yoghurt contains high amounts of calcium which helps your teeth and bones. 8 As mentioned, it’s high in protein which works along with calcium to help increase the level of appetite-reducing hormones like peptide YY and GLP-1. 29In 2011, we began trading as Lancashire Farm Dairies to bolster our leading brand and strengthen our provenance. Pakeeza Dairies, however, remains the company name. Despite the increase in automation, we have had to nearly double our staff to 150 in just three years to keep up with the growing output. Those people have generally been more skilled, which has added value to the business. I studied agriculture at Reaseheath College in Nantwich, and also worked on the dairy in Peterborough – both invaluable experiences. I started working for Pakeeza straight after college, and became md a couple of years after.

One nutrient yoghurt doesn’t contain naturally is vitamin D, however, it is commonly added to many branded yoghurts. After three weeks, it was reported that results showed improvements in bloating and stool frequency. 23 I know it all sounds like plain sailing, but the yogurt market isn’t without its challenges. One of the biggest is the current price of milk, brought about by the Russian embargo on imports and the end of the EU milk quota system, which both happened last year.Scientific studies show that protein helps support your metabolism by increasing the way you use energy and the way you burn calories throughout the day. 15 There has also been a number of studies that have found that consuming yoghurt is associated with lower body weight, lower body fat percentage and waist size. 30 Our Lancashire Farm brand continues to grow by 10–20% year-on-year, and I think there’s no reason why the company cannot grow by 40–50% over the next three to five years. The factory is running at 70% capacity, so we don’t have any problems on that front. SA: We were founded in 1984 and originally the company was run by father and son, Ghulam Zouq and Azhar Zouq. Ghulam sadly passed away in 2021 and Azhar continues to lead the business as Managing Director. Ghulam had left Pakistan for England in 1960 and originally worked in Lancashire’s textile mills, before setting up a fruit and veg stall in Rochdale in the early 1980s. He started as a market trader, buying and selling yoghurt, which became a speciality before he transformed the business to begin manufacturing its own yoghurt. That said, much of the lactose contained in milk is broken down in the production of yoghurt so it may be that those with lactose intolerance may be able to stand it depending on the severity.