Byre Bodycare to launch bodywash range made with unwanted whey

UK startup Byre Bodycare is to make its debut next week with a bodywash range made with unwanted whey.

The brand will roll out three premium SKUs on 18 October. Full Cream, Semi Skimmed and Skimmed (rsp: £5/250ml) will be exclusive to Sainsbury’s for a year, and will be available for the first six weeks at an introductory price of £4.

Each variant contains 96% naturally derived ingredients, including sweet whey powder derived from the milk of British cows. It is sourced either as raw milk from about 200 Red Tractor-assured suppliers or as whey concentrate from the same farms (as long as they are also Global Food Safety Initiative-certified cheese manufacturers).

The British dairy industry throws away 870,000 tonnes of whey per year, according to Byre. “Having been brought up on the adage of ‘waste not, want not’, I am delighted that we have been able to use whey as a key ingredient,” said the Berkshire brand’s MD, Quentin Higham.

Packed in a fully recyclable plastic bottle made from recycled milk cartons, the bodywash is free from parabens, silicones and artificial colouring. The likes of aloe vera, oatmeal extract and sustainable poppy seed oil help “cleanse the skin, leaving it feeling soft and silky smooth”.

In an unusual move for a personal care brand, Byre will donate a percentage (to be confirmed) of its annual net sales to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution – which helps working and retired farmers in financial difficulty. Last year, it gave out grants totalling £2.2m to 1,248 families.

The charity was “genuinely impressed with Byre Bodycare’s wish to support our vital British dairy farming industry” said its head of fundraising, Stephen Noble. “This represents a new territory for RABI.”