Fresh milk, direct from the cow, can now be bought from seven farmers who have installed milk vending machines on their farms. The farms in question are as follows: Klein in Roullingen, Sangers-Majerus in Niederpallen, Biver in Nospelt, Witry in Dippach, Tempels in Niederkorn and Elsen in Imbringen.
In 2014 Marc Elsen installed the first, officially calibrated milk "filling station" in the Grand Duchy. Of the milk produced daily by his 100 dairy cows, he sells 30 litres per day via this vending machine, which he sourced from Switzerland. Elsen now acts as representative for these milk "filling stations" in Luxembourg.
Each morning, Marc Elsen rinses out the machine's container and refills it with fresh raw milk. "This milk is only filtered in the milking machine; apart from that it's untreated. It contains the full fat content, a little bit more than 4 per cent", he says. He receives a great deal of feedback from satisfied customers, who are happy "at last to be able to buy milk in the way we used to do".
The requisite glass bottles can be purchased on the spot, or one can bring them oneself from home. Generally speaking, any clean, closable receptacle can be used to fill up with milk from the vending machine. However, when transporting it back home, it is vital not to interrupt the cold chain.
More and more customers are prepared to buy their food products direct from the producer. This is also rewarding for them in financial terms, since it works out cheaper than if the products are sold through an intermediary
