Bladnoch creamery was established in 1899 by the SCWS, initially for butter production
James Flanagan in the Golden Jubilee Handbook of the SCWS wrote that by that time of its publication in 1920, ‘the chief importance of Bladnoch was its margarine production’. He notes that ‘before the war margarine was not popular even in the working class home, and while people who were known to be well-to do had no hesitation about using margarine for cooking and baking, many working people who used margarine did not seem to want people to know about it…….Adversity makes strange bedfellows, however. The submarine cut-off Danish supplies, and the price of butter rose to a serious extent, with the result that a phenomenal demand for margarine was created’.
As a consequence, post-WWI production of the Co-op own brand, ‘Bluebell’ at Bladnoch increased ten-fold from its pre-war level.
A 1927 SCWS film outlined the processes involved the manufacture of Bluebell margarine in Wigtownshire.
Competition from supermarkets in the late twentieth century saw a marked decline in co-operative stores. With Bluebell margarine losing sales. the creamery at Whithorn closed in 1973 and in 1989, the closure of Bladnoch was announced.
Today the site is part of the Bladnoch Bridge Industrial Estate.
