IT WAS back in 1986 that Angus and Kathleen Wielkopolski set up St Helen’s Farm, milking a few hundred goats on a smallholding at Barmby on the Marsh.

The smallholding was next to a church, which gave its name to the venture, now a leading supplier of goat’s milk, yoghurt, cheese, cream, butter and ice cream to major retailers across the UK.

The business started because people who had an intolerance to cows’ milk could often only source alternatives directly from farms, but big names in grocery at the time, such as Hillards and Safeway, were among the first to start stocking St Helen’s products.

The business moved to its present site at Seaton Ross in 1994, when it was processing one million litres of goats’ milk per year.

Now that figure is 18 million litres a year, with milk coming from two farms St Helen’s owns in Yorkshire and from other family farms in Yorkshire and the Midlands.

Down the years St Helen’s has won a host of accolades, including two in The Press’ Eat Local awards in 2003, and future prospects appear highly positive for this specialist producer, as its market evolves and people turn to its wares not only for health reasons but because they are seeking greater variety in their diet.

The leading brand in all the goats’ milk product categories in which it trades, the St Helen’s Farm brand is available in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrisons and the Co-op, and through online retailer Ocado.

In 2013 there was a change of ownership, with St Helen’s becoming part of Kavli UK, itself part of the larger Kavli Group, based in Scandinavia, whose sole purpose is to generate funds to support charitable causes through the Kavli Trust.

The general manager at St Helen’s is Paddy O’Keeffe, who has been in the dairy industry all his working life. He had worked in another company owned by Mr Wielkopolski, then came to St Helen’s in 2011 as managing director, taking up his present role following the ownership change.

“A little more than half of the milk we use comes from the farms associated with the business, with just under half from seven other farms that have supplied us for a long time,” he said.

The operation was small-scale when set against the biggest dairy businesses, but because St Helen’s dealt with niche products its ‘comparative market’ was with products such as soya and almond milk.

“The whole alternative milks market is in the region of 100 million litres a year,” he said. “It’s about those people who are looking for some product that’s different to cows’ milk.

“It does seem to be evolving, because it was very much a market where people who had an intolerance to cows’ milk in some form who were looking for a substitute product.

“Now - from letters and emails we receive and posts on the website - it seems to be moving into people saying: ‘I have switched for the taste or I want more variety in my diet’.

“People’s relationship with food is changing, to something that is interest and pleasure, and they are more interested in where it comes from.”

Mr O’Keeffe said this evolution meant there were ‘fantastic opportunities’ for those in the food industry with a speciality product. “We are happy to take pleasure in what we produce and take pride in producing good-quality products for our customers,” he said.

Following the change of ownership St Helen’s had a rolling investment programme which put about £250,000 a year into the enterprise. “We are constantly refreshing the business,” Mr O’Keeffe said.

He said milk remained the mainstay of St Helen’s turnover, but the business had seen major growth in yoghurts and also other products such as butter and ice cream, the latter being produced in association with Yorvale, based in Acaster Malbis.

“Our objective is to be able to offer our customers as many St Helen’s products as we can,” said Mr O’Keeffe.

New products are very much part of the 30th anniversary celebrations, with two limited edition flavours of its layered fruit yoghurts. Taking inspiration from classic British flavours, rhubarb and hibiscus and gooseberry and apple flavours will be added to the line-up, replacing the current flavours, raspberry and elderflower and Sicilian lemon.

It has also created a newly designed 30-year anniversary carton for its award-winning fresh goats’ milk. Vicky Unwin, marketing manager, said: “This landmark presents a great opportunity for St Helen’s Farm to celebrate the success of the last 30 years with our loyal customers, but also attract new customers to consider switching to alternative milk and associated products.”