About Bates
We have been supplying milk and dairy products since 1939!
A local family business
Bates Dairy are a family business through and through, with their history and future firmly tied to milk and dairy. Three generations of the family are actively engaged in managing the dairy and work with customers and suppliers every day to ensure the freshest milk is delivered to your door every time.
As a company and a family, Bates place great emphasis on sustainability and so communicate frequently with both customers and suppliers to ensure they understand their current and future dairy requirements.
Our dairy is still located in the same place it was founded back in 1939. We have been processing and delivering milk form Stamford Road in the Birkdale, Southport ever since. Over the years our dairy has changed and grown quite a bit, but we still maintain the family traditions and work ethos that has helped the business grow to where it is today.
Our Office
The hub of the entire dairy and the workplace of many a Bates family member, our modern office is split into different departments from marketing, accounts and customer relations, who take the orders, to the most important department of all, our milk lab.
In our lab, we test our milk and cream every day to make sure it has just the right amount of cream ensuring you always get the milky taste you’re after.
Processing and Pasteurisation
Once our fresh milk arrives at the dairy, it is transferred from the milk tanker to our pasteurising plant. Here it undergoes the pasteurisation process then is held in preparation for bottling in various forms, in the building next door.
Pasteurisation makes sure milk is safe to drink, helps to prolong its shelf life and keep its fresh taste for as long as possible.
Packaging
Our modern bottling plant adds all the fresh milk we sell to the various forms of packaging that our doorstep and wholesale customers need. From the traditional glass bottles you receive on your doorstep all the way to up to 3-gallon milk packs we supply to foodeservice customers, it’s all packaged in here by our experienced dairy team six days a week.
Our Logistical Fleet
Our large fleet of over 30 refrigerated vans and wagons along with over 20 of our traditional electric milk floats deliver Bates’ freshly bottled milk & other produce to Southport and across the North West on a daily basis.
We have an in-house garage and expert mechanic that makes sure all the vehicles are in tip top condition and ready to go at all times helping to make sure we never let our customers down and that you always have a glass of Bates milk to drink.
Cutting down plastic waste along the way
With the environment in mind, we prefer to deliver our doorstep milk in traditional, recyclable, glass bottles filled with the freshest milk from our local farmers. Over 20 electric milk floats set out in the early hours of the morning to make sure you have Bates milk on your doorstep in time for your breakfast or first cups of tea.
Meet The Bates Dairy Team
The Bates Farms business has been passed down through generations of the Bates Family, originating in 1939 and currently run by Chris, Ross and Steven Bates.