Scotland's first buffalo mozzarella farm to open in Kirkcaldy

A buffalo farm has unveiled plans to become the first Scottish producer of buffalo mozzarella.

The Buffalo Farm in Kirkcaldy has been awarded £500,000 from the Scottish Government’s food processing, marketing and co-operation grant scheme to build a new facility on the outskirts of the town for producing the Italian cheese.

An old dairy farm at Bankhead of Raith will be turned into a milking parlour, processing plant and sheds to house the new herd, pending an official planning application.

Steve Mitchell from The Buffalo Farm said: “We have carried out extensive research, travelling thousands of miles around Europe to understand exactly what is involved in the farming and processing of a herd of dairy buffalo, as well as understanding the best business strategies for bringing the product to market.

“We are looking to start the building programme this autumn and have the sheds and milking parlour completed by early 2019, so we are under a bit of pressure to get things moving quickly.

“We have therefore strengthened our team by linking up with Maurizio Brugnoli who has become our new product development director and will head up the development of the mozzarella project.”

He said Brugnoli, who has previously worked for a number of prestigious restaurants, will bring a wealth of experience and contacts in the import and distribution of Italian food products throughout Scotland.

Mitchell said: “We have come an awful long way from when I first started selling buffalo meat at farmers’ markets some 12 years ago and I cannot wait to start the next chapter of this amazing journey.

“We will continue to look for investment partners to ensure we can deliver the best possible buffalo mozzarella on the market and we are currently exploring a few exciting options.”