A Chiltern Hills yoghurt-maker is celebrating its 70th anniversary.

Tims Dairy, based in Chalfont St Peter, is marking the milestone on the back of listings in Asda stores, where its yoghurt has been stocked since 2012.

The business, which employs 70 people, is run by brothers, Chris, Peter, Bides and Tony Timotheou.

They make yoghurt in batches at their dairy, using fresh pasteurised British milk, natural ingredients and bio-live cultures – and continue to modernise their site to “enhance the process from production to delivery”.

Working alongside the supermarket chain, Tims Dairy says it has seen a steady growth in sales since its first full year (2013) and has seen an overall growth of 47 per cent sales during that time – with listings in 2019 having increased to 73 Asda stores from 42 originally.

Last year, the firm saw an increase of 16.5 per cent in sales and has launched a newly branded pot of ‘spring dew’ yoghurt.

Bosses visited the High Wycombe store to mark seven decades in business.

Sally Dorling, marketing manager of Tims Dairy, said: “Sales have steadily grown with Asda since day one. Happily, all of our range seems popular and we get quite a bit of positive feedback from Asda shoppers.

“We like the way that the range is merchandised altogether, and the branding stands out which attracts trial. The great taste then brings people back for more and more.

“Our family has a traditional Greek heritage and we’ve been making fresh live yoghurt since 1949. People enjoy the premium quality and taste of our yoghurts and our 70 years of expertise is uncompromising, and our range is multi award-winning for great taste.

“People love the fact that we are local, we use fresh British milk and cream and only natural ingredients, so they can trust everything from provenance to quality to taste.

“Our position as a supplier to Asda has allowed us to grow as a company whilst retaining the roots of our family business – it’s great that Asda take the time to support local suppliers.”

Phil Goddard, local and regional buying manager at Asda, said: “Tims Dairy is a great example of the award-winning, quality locally-made products Asda is proud to stock for our customers to enjoy.

“Tims Dairy is a success story in terms of how we’ve grown our relationship and the benefits are mutual – a local business continues to grow and succeed and as a result lots more customers in lots more stores now have the opportunity to enjoy their great-tasting yoghurts.”