Speaking with Ben Bouckley at the recent Foodex 2014 trade show in Birmingham, UK, Harris (pictured) says in this podcast that he and wife Eira (also in photo) founded the brand in 2003 due to disappointing prices for organic milk at their dairy, Trioni.
Daioni (dye-on-knee) is Welsh for ‘goodness’, and uses UHT semi-skimmed organic milk (for a long shelf life) in three naturally flavored milks – there are banana, chocolate and strawberry flavors.
The Pembrokeshire dairy has listings in Tesco in Wales, Ocado and independents in the UK, and as far afield as Malaysia and Dubai, and is running hard to extend distribution across schools and retailers in the UK.
However, Harris stresses that taste is vital: “You can have a very healthy drink, but if it doesn’t appeal to the child you haven’t got very far,” he warns.
“It’s a compromise – milk is world renowned for being beneficial to most, not to all. It’s low calorie, and has a decent flavour,” Harris adds.
“It ticks a lot of boxes with less than 5% sugar, and it’s there instead of the fizzy drinks with artificial colorings and stuff like that,” he says.