'The demand for dairy buffalo is very strong at the moment'

Growing

His meat buffalo herd and retailing operation soon became well known and has since expanded into a butchery, a farm shop, a cafe and two satellite butchers’ counters in other farm shops.

The next stage will take him into dairy production and will fulfil a long-held ambition.

“If I had a pound for every time I have been asked why I don’t produce mozzarella I would have been able to do this from my own pocket,” he says.

Things do not work out that way unfortunately, but perhaps crowdfunding is the nearest option.

Stevie and his professional advisors worked out that the best way to organise this is was to offer three levels of commitment.

A key feature of all three options is that the crowdfunded amount is refundable when the membership, which lasts a minimum of four years, comes to an end.

Also, the return on the investment is not paid in cash, but in vouchers redeemable in the farm shop. Mostly these will be for meat orders with beef, lamb, pork and of course buffalo on offer.

With the Founders Club and the Executive Club offering notional rates of return of 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively, these are attractive options, especially at time of low returns on cash savings.Stevie is also keen to hear from anyone wishing to take an equity or debt stake in the new venture.

He has manged to secure £576,263 of funding from the Processing and Marketing Grant Scheme (PMGS) to go towards the project.

As of mid-October, crowdfunding pledges stood at £556,000 with £244,000 still sought. But there is some time pressure with the PMGS offer lapsing on March 31, 2020.

Growing

Just to add to the excitement of starting the new project Stevie’s wife Sarah gave birth to Harry, their first child, on the very day the crowdfunding was launched.

The plan is to lock into the UK mozzarella market which is currently worth £79 million and growing at 12 per cent per year.

The new processing plant will have the capacity to make 520,000kg per year of the soft cheese.

A herd of 100 dairy buffalo will produce just over half the milk required with the balance coming in time from other producers.

The project has a projected revenue of £6.6m and should support 16 new jobs. The crowdfunded amounts are being held in a separate bank account under the control of two independent trustees and can be refunded should the project not go ahead.

Stevie regards that as an unlikely prospect, however, and he is hugely buoyed by the response so far.

“I expected it be mainly from our local customer base, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the positive response from our online customers all around the UK,” Stevie says.

“The public always followed us without invitation right from the start when we began the buffalo herd.

“Our first butcher’s shop was in Kennoway, but when we moved it here to the farm at Boglily our customers were surprised that we hadn’t put in a coffee shop and cafe.

“So, we converted an old loft, which was nearly derelict, into a cafe and then added a new kitchen. That is typical of the way the business has grown over the years.

“We now have a turnover in excess of £3.5m. Raith Estates has been very important to us all the way through renting us land and then buildings.”

Social media has played a huge part in raising the profile of the business.

As well as a 10,000-strong mailing list, the Buffalo Farm Facebook page has 48,000 followers and a fast-growing Instagram account.

Stevie has based his business a Boglily Farm, which is less than a mile from Kirkcaldy and not far from other well-populated West Fife towns. The footfall on the farm is little short of amazing.

This spring an online invitation to customers to bring their children to see and cuddle the year’s crop of pygmy goat kids encouraged up to 500 visitors a day, overwhelming the car park and requiring buses to be laid on from Kirkcaldy.

Meat

It is all a far cry from 2005 when the first beef buffalo arrived on the farm. Now there are 100 breeding females with the progeny finished on the farm.

Sold on flavour, low cholesterol and low saturated fat, the meat is now sold retail and through Stevie’s own private hire catering unit.

Beef buffalo are managed similarly to beef cattle and are subject to all the same regulations as regards tagging and bovine TB testing. The cows, however, have a gestation period of 10 months and the calves mature slowly producing a 300kg carcase between 24 and 30 months of age.

Slaughter and processing are carried out at Millers of Speyside and the meat is dry aged.

Stevie has noted that the dairy buffalo, although producing more milk, still have a very similar conformation to the beef type and he expects similar carcase weight and quality from their male progeny.

In all he farms 223 hectares (550 acres), all rented from Raith Estates, with most in grass for grazing and conservation.Hay and silage are sold each year, with 12ha (30 acres) of winter rye grown for grain production. There is also a flock of 140 Jacob ewes.

It is at heart a farming operation which is focused on satisfying its retail customers.

And all being well they will soon have home-produced mozzarella to add to their shopping bags.