Graham's Dairy chairman, 83, says he'll work till the cows come home

It was every milk boy’s worst nightmare, getting to the doorstep having run all the way up the driveway to find “no milk” written on the little piece of paper slipped into yesterday’s bottles.

Without spilling a drop, 10-year-old Robert Graham would run back to his dad in the Bedford van on the main road through Bridge of Allan, two full bottles still in his hands. On to the next house they would go, just past 5am.

“I left school at 15, I was different to the other boys and girls,” said Robert, now 83 and chairman of Graham’s The Family Dairy.

“It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it, I didn’t have the interest, I was too keen to get home and get on a tractor. I was an only child so it always felt even at that age that I had to help my father.”

Robert’s father and mother, Robert and Isabella, moved to Airthrey Kerse Farm after marrying in 1939. They had 12 cows that lived on 112 acres, and Robert Sr would go out every morning with a pony and cart to deliver milk to housemaids waiting at their doors with jugs to be filled.

Born in the farmhouse

Robert was born in the farmhouse in 1940 and, over the next 20 years, he grew from a milk boy looking admirably up at his father to a partner involved in key decisions at the dairy.

Labels on shop shelves read “Robert Graham & Son Tuberculin-tested Milk.” The Grahams bought over neighbouring land and more further afield, moving into the “big time” as their name spread beyond Bridge of Allan.

Young Robert married his “biggest supporter” Jean in 1964 after meeting her in the dance hall. Three years later, the family made a purchase that would change everything.

Robert said: “I’ll always remember going down to Surrey to buy the pasteurisation plant. We had no money, but it needed to be done because otherwise we couldn’t sell to shops anymore. I had a piece of land out near Alloa, so I sold that. It was the best thing I have ever done. As soon as we did that, all these doors opened and we could sell to anyone.”

As the business kept growing, with Robert and Jean now at its helm and under the name Graham’s Dairy Ltd, the milk-boy mornings didn’t seem so early anymore.

“It was hard, Jean always says now she doesn’t know how I did it,” said Robert.

“I did 30 years starting at 1.30am. That was to get the cows milked and the milk processed and out when it was fresh. That was just how it was, and that is how we got more customers.”

Robert and Jean had two children, Carol and Robert, who grew up spending summers helping on the farm. Both left home to study sports science and accountancy respectively, but ultimately came back to the dairy.

Changes on the farm

More than 80 years on from Grandpa Robert and Isabella moving to Bridge of Allan, life on the farm has changed a little.

Twelve Friesian cows are now 10,000 Friesians and 300 Jerseys. Their milk is being delivered all over the country by artic lorry and as far as Dubai by plane – the pony and cart is just a tale from the beginning.

Robert still dons his whites at the farm most days, but his son covers the sales side of things, to the point where Robert was shocked to see one of their lorries outside new customer Hotel Chocolat on Buchanan Street on a recent visit to Glasgow.

The farmhouse where Robert was born is still the heart of the Bridge of Allan farm, but it serves a different purpose.

“What was the lounge is now my son’s office and there are three people working in what was my bedroom upstairs,” said Robert.

“We still have the kitchen as it was, with my mother’s Aga as the greatest centrepiece for selling anything to anybody. People from these big supermarkets come in and they expect an industrial site, but that is not who we are. The farmhouse is still the focus, this is where it started and we can’t lose that.”

Every day, up to 7,000 independent shops get deliveries from Graham’s, and that is before supermarkets. They are all fighting to be the first to get the next new product on their shelves as their range has evolved from milk, cream and butter to include ice-cream, protein yogurts and kefir. “Protein is the big thing now,” said Robert.

“Last year, for the first time, our protein product sales overtook our milk sales. That was a big surprise to me.

“When we started doing cottage cheese years ago, it was a big-seller, but then sales dropped so far we considered whether it was worth carrying on with it. But now, for whatever reason, it’s flying off the shelves.”

Children Robert and Carol with spring lambs.

But there is one thing that has been constant all these years, and it was Carol in 2006 who decided it should be more prominent in how the world sees Graham’s.

“When Carol came back to the business, she said we were going to change the name to Graham’s The Family Dairy,” said Robert.

“It was a big move, but because of it, sales went up and haven’t stopped since. It was the biggest turning point in our business.

“My father used to tell me ‘always be yourself’, no matter what. We have different views and personalities, but before we leave a room, we always agree.

“It has always been about family.”