There's a brand new, modern vending machine at Welcome Bay dispensing a very old fashioned product – raw milk virtually straight from the cows.

Walnut Tree Farm in Welcome Bay Rd began selling fresh raw milk last week and already it's a hit with locals, including some who'd travel to Ngatea and Putaruru to buy raw milk.

Walnut Tree Farm owner Craig Roughton with some milk. Photo by Tracy Hardy.

Craig and Ruth Roughton own the 9.6ha Walnut Tree Farm, milking eight Friesian cows in a brand new eight-aside herringbone dairy.

They imported a raw milk vending machine from Italy, which refrigerates and dispenses milk 24 hours daily from the farm's self-service shop.

The couple, who are also sharemilkers at Te Puke, were inspired to begin a raw milk business after receiving requests from people to buy untreated milk, then reading in Coast & Country News about a raw milk company in Nelson.

'We thought, this is a good idea, and began to research what was involved,” says Ruth.

It took time to find the right property – close to Tauranga City so customers wouldn't have to travel too far to buy milk.

Now every afternoon the grass-fed cows are milked and the milk is snap-chilled to six degrees Celsius before going into a refrigerated vat connected to the vending machine.

Customers can take their own containers, or buy glass bottles from the farm shop, then pay for their milk with coins or tokens and dispense their own milk – a maximum of five litres per person per day.

'Our customers are enthusiastic about our milk and we've heard so many ‘milk stories' about how they enjoyed fresh raw milk as children.

'As well as drinking our milk, many people are also buying it to make cheeses,” says Ruth.

Milk producers are allowed to sell up to five litres of raw milk at any one time from the farm, direct to a consumer and are required to ensure the milk is safe and fit for purpose.

Raw milk is unprocessed, receiving no pasteurisation, homogenisation, additives; and demand for it is growing among fans who believe it tastes better and is more nutritious.