We have all been reading the reports from the UK about how dairy farmers there have had to dump thousands of litres of milk because the industry has been devastated by the loss of its schools and catering trade business. But how is our own Isle of Man Creamery faring during the pandemic? Shirley Callow, marketing manager at the Creamery, told us.

We’re living in unprecedented times, a time that will no doubt affect every business in the island,’ she said.

’As a local food producer, we are always banging the drum for "buy local" and "support your local farmer" and now more than ever this is vitally important.

’Like many businesses in the food industry, we have faced a number of challenges during this time alongside some areas of our business that have seen some growth.

’We’ve offered a doorstep delivery service for over 80 years supplying local fresh milk and dairy products along with other local food products for free delivery island-wide.

’In mid-March, as more and more people became concerned about the potential spread of Covid-19, we began to see an increase in the numbers of people signing up with us to have free doorstep delivery.

’As the government announced stricter measures, we saw an influx of new customers to the point where we had to take on extra drivers, administration staff and add extra delivery rounds to cope with the demand.

’We started March with just under 6,000 doorstep customers, by April 15 we were delivering to almost 8,000 households. Compared to March 2019, we delivered over 6,000 extra litres of milk to our doorstep customers during March. This will grow during April with latest figures showing 5,000 extra litres delivered in the second week of the month alone.’

All this is obviously good news for the Creamery but, like all the other local producers who have changed or ramped up their businesses, there is no guarantee that the increase in residential customers will continue after the lockdown.

Shirley said: ’After the investments we have made to allow us to deliver to all of these new customers, we really hope that they will continue, having enjoyed the convenience of the service, and chose to support local and keep their doorstep deliveries when coronavirus is all a distant memory.

’Of course these extra customers supporting local and signing up for doorstep delivery is great for our business and we will be forever grateful for their support but it only goes some way to making up the shortfalls we have seen from other sectors.

’A large part of the Creamery’s milk business is made up of caterers, coffee shops and hotels which have all unfortunately had to close from the last week in March.

’This, in addition to the closure of schools and offices, has seen us lose around 25,500 litres of milk sales year on year for March.

’This figure will only grow in April as we see our first full month of lockdown take effect. We have also seen our export cheese business fall dramatically as retailers and exporters all over the world close for business.

’We’ll continue to work hard to deliver to everyone that needs us while social distancing and the ’stay home’ regulations are in place and beyond, and we remain grateful for all of the local support which is helping to bolster our business and support our 33 family-owned dairy farms.’