DAIRY farmer Mr Gordon Tweddle can enjoy the new year knowing his gamble of a lifetime has paid off.

His unique organic milk doorstep delivery service in the Darlington area has proved a success and his farm in Wensleydale is also supplying all the milk for a new range of organic cheeses produced by the Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes.

This week he thanked his customers for turning his fledgling Acorn Dairy into a winner.

It was some three years ago that Mr Tweddle and his wife, Linda, looked at the long-term sustainability of their farm and where they wanted to be in ten years' time.

They decided they wanted to sell directly to the consumer and provide a fresh quality organic product with full traceability.

They carried out their own consumer survey in Darlington town centre and were impressed by the strong desire for local organic produce and the fact that people said they would be prepared to pay a small premium for it.

National consultants cast doubt on the findings. Although they liked the idea, they told the Tweddles they should look to York, Harrogate or Leeds for it to work.

"But we said what was the point of that when the farm is in Darlington," said Mr Tweddle. "The people of Darlington told us they were ready for this local organic product and we went on the strength of that and ignored the national consultants.

"We have found our uptake has been right across Darlington and surrounding areas; it is not concentrated in any one particular area.

"Now we want to thank the people for supporting us. The reality has proved our survey was correct."

It took them 2 years to convert Garthorne Farm at Archdeacon Newton, on the outskirts of the town, from conventional farming to organic and, at the launch of Acorn Dairy in June, Mr Tweddle said it was the biggest gamble he had ever taken.

They also converted their contract unit at Hallwith Farm at Spennithorne, near Leyburn, and won the contract to supply all that milk to the Wensleydale creamery for its new range of organic cheese.

"It is the very first time that cows have produced genuine organic milk in Wensleydale for Wensleydale cheese," said Mr Tweddle. "Now that Hawes has bought Fountains, it puts an end to imported organic milk coming in and masquerading as Wensleydale."

Red Leicester cheese is also available and very shortly there will be organic Cheshire, Lancashire, Caerphilly and Double Gloucester.

"We have 170 cows at Hallwith Farm producing 6,500 litres each and we are very keen to supply Hawes Creamery with as much organic milk as possible in the future," said Mr Tweddle.

"We think it is an excellent example of a local farm working with a local processor to produce a genuinely local, quality product."

Mr Tweddle is also very proud of the fact that his new venture provides a living for 12 people.

If he had taken other consultants' advice in the mid-90s, he would have sold or leased all his milk quota while it had a high value, sacked the staff, and let out or sold off the cottages.

"I would have kept one man and employed back-packing Aussie students who would have worked 16 hours a day for three months and then been finished," said Mr Tweddle.

"The net effect of all that would have been to rip the heart out of that countryside and the feeling of community.

"We do feel rather proud of the fact that, throughout all this, we have employed local professionals and are now in a position where there are 12 livings.

"If we had taken consultants' advice in the mid-90s we would have been down to two livings at the most."

But there have been spin-offs for other organic producers through the creation of Acorn.

Doorstep customers have asked for organic bread, which is being supplied by The Barn Bakery in Alnwick and The Larchfield Community in Cleveland.

Free range, organic, eggs are supplied through producers for Hi Peak Organic Foods based in Derby.

The new year is expected to see the opportunity to buy organically produced poultry; cereals; cheese and Abbey Well natural mineral water.

The whole range of milk products - whole, skimmed and semi-skimmed as well as single, double and whipping cream and now the cheese - are available from Acorn.

"We feel that, in these days of concern about food quality and safety, there is a significant number of people wanting to switch to organic and what is better than having local organic?" asked Mr Tweddle.

"The two combined have a much greater effect than the two have separately."

At the launch of Acorn, Mr Tweddle said they were not out to take customers away from existing roundsmen.

"We don't believe we have taken customers from good local roundsmen, except for those who are genuine organic customers," he said. "The vast majority of our business is new doorstep business and we like to think we have taken that by providing a good quality product in a professional manner and by putting the customer first."

He looks forward to the new year with confidence and with the aim of attracting more custom from the town and surrounding areas. Anyone interested can contact Acorn Dairy on 01325 466999