Dairy farmers in the northwest UK county of Cheshire are hoping to export fresh milk to China by extending shelf life and keeping it fresh.

NEMI Dairy Ltd in Audlem, near Nantwich, said it is in discussions to sell its milk to major cities across the Chinese mainland.

The milk produced by the famers has an extended shelf life and is naturally enriched with selenium.

Working with a team of experts from Reaseheath College, the dairy company is hoping to see its milk on sale in China by Aug 1 this year and become the first British company to export fresh milk to the world's second-largest economy.

Andrew Henderson, founder and managing director of NEMI Dairy, told the Farming Life publication: "Due to time and distance it takes to cross continents, there is an issue with getting fresh milk to China but we've come up with a process that not only has the extended shelf life, but makes sure the milk maintains that fresh taste."

Reaseheath's food production unit worked with Henderson to test the milk and make sure it could stay fresher longer.

Henderson also attended a business class run by the college's European Regional Development Fund, funded SME Business Growth Programme in October.

He launched the company more than three years ago but has been working on the concept for more than 10 years.

"The Reaseheath team has been excellent in the sense that they have done the research and development work for us into the shelf life of the milk," Henderson said.

Talks about exporting diary to China has been in the pipeline for some time, earlier this month Henderson welcomed a Chinese delegation to Reaseheath to show the work that has been done.

Henderson and his team will also travel to Shanghai to continue talks.

Farming Life noted that Shepton Mallet-based packaging company Framptons Ltd is one of only three British processors with the necessary accreditation and licenses to export to China.

Distribution will be handled by the Shanghai Extend Import and Export Co, who already sources and distributes seafood products in China.

"We knew that we couldn't actually physically import and distribute the milk ourselves but we're confident in the partners we have identified," Henderson added.

He said if given the go-ahead to supply to China, it would make a huge difference to British dairy farmers.

boleung@mail.chinadailyuk.com