Our Story
Jodie & Howie met at agricultural university, both sharing a passion for music festivals & the great outdoors.
Milkpreneurs meet
Imagine the scene…their eyes met over a green field, the
gentle breeze wafting through the air, cattle mooing, when
founders Jodie and Howie locked eyes…
OK OK, the writer might have got carried away here, but the
young and ambitious twenty-somethings did meet at
agricultural uni where they shared a passion for the great
outdoors, great music, great ideas….and milk.
So what happened next?....Shaken Udder Is Born
After partying at V festival, Jodie and Howie noticed that
amongst the array of food stalls, very little was available when
it came to milk. This was bad news for Jodie who was, and still is, a self confessed milkaholic and would readily swap a fizzy
drink for a glass of the white stuff. Together they had a ‘what if’
moment. What if there was a stall selling ice cold creamy
milkshakes - the best ones in Britain - not made with synthetic
syrup flavouring, but made on site, with real ingredients from a
black truck, with a funky looking cow on the side?
No one else was doing it. So their entrepreneurial spirit kicked
in. The duo went on a flavour blending mission (in Howie’s
mum’s farmhouse kitchen) - and tried hundreds of
combinations mixed with ice cold dairy ice cream, and came
up with the name Shaken Udder. Which unbeknown to them,
was about to take the festival circuit by storm.
And then in 2004…Festival fields reached fever pitch
Let’s not beat around the bush, Shaken Udder’s fresh and
creamy milkshakes took off big style. Following on from the
success of the previous year, festival goers loved the concept,
the 120 shake flavours, the cow and the merch (Shaken Udder
t-shirts and aprons were also a hit), it really was such an
exciting time to be a milkpreneur.
Gaining huge popularity, after exhausting themselves at a
summer full of festivals, fans now wanted to know where they
could get their milkshake fix all year round, not just at events.
So the focus for Jodie and Howie was crystal clear, Shaken
Udder needed to be in shops. They spent time, and money
(their house deposit) researching and developing their shakes
so they could go from fields to shelves.Research, research, research
Whilst still going to festivals up and down the length of the
country, there was a lot going on in the background.
Headaches mainly. But that’s what happens when you’re
driven and focussed to get Shaken Udder onto shelves. So a
good chunk of time (and money, again) was spent in
researching and development.
But in 2008, it paid off…
Harvey Nichols debut
Where else to find a premium tasting, fresh and creamy
milkshake but on the prestigious shelves of one of London’s
top stores.
After refining the recipes, using manufacturers that stayed true
to their values, throwing their wedding deposit at a labelling
machine (and delaying their nuptials)…and also jumping
through a load of milkshake shaped hoops, Shaken Udder was
ready to take the milk aisles by storm, and they did.
Could it get any better? Of course!....Hello Harrods and the high street
As well as their trusty festival fan base, more retailers got a
taste for their creamy delicious milkshakes, and founders
Jodie and Howie launched Shaken Udder into, get ready for
this:
Harrods,
Selfridges,
Waitrose,
Whole Foods Market,
Booths,
Fortnum and Mason.
And to think it all started from when Jodie and Howie took
over Howie’s mum’s kitchen to start creating this now
infamous milkshake.
But it didn’t stop there, just two years later and…Wedding rings and supermarket chains
Jodie and Howie finally got married and on the same day as
Will and Kate, after delaying it for 3 years because they spent
their wedding fund on a new labelling machine - that’s
dedication for you. Things got even better when Tesco said “I
do” and stocked the entire fresh and creamy Shaken Udder
range in 400 stores.
There were even more reasons to celebrate coming up…..
Doing it for the kids
It didn’t seem fair that ‘grown ups’ were getting all the fresh
milkshake fun, it was time to launch something delicious for
the littlest fans too. Strawberry and Chocolate cartons became
an instant hit with schools and cafes. And because of all this
great success, demand grew even more and it was time to up
sticks and move to a larger manufacturing place to call home.
Just as well, because in 2014…Events galore
Festival fans are thirsty people. And in 2014 you couldn’t go to
a festival without seeing a long, happy queue for Shaken Udder. Leeds, Reading, you name the festival and fans were thirsty for fresh and creamy milkshakes, it was epic, 34
appearances in total. Howie even converted a lorry into a
bedroom/office/freezer to make sure he could be on site and
on hand for everyone’s milkshake needs.
But there was still room to go bigger….Shaken Udder goes XXL
The range just kept growing. In response to thirsty customer
feedback of wanting larger bottles, the 750ml was launched in
Chocolush and Vanillalicious flavours. And whilst that was all
happening another mouth watering flavour was added to the
range: Salted Caramel with locally sourced Essex salt.
It was a very busy year, but not quite as hectic as…No time to sleep
This year is worthy of bullet points to give a glimpse into the
busyness of the business - and with a jam packed festival
schedule too:● Launched YogOaty pouches into Tesco and won Dairy Innovation Awards 2017:
● Launched new Strawberries & Clotted Cream flavour:
● Revamped the design of the 750ml:
● Sainsbury’s stocked the 330ml bottles:
● Did the biggest on-pack promo ever:
A rest would be good, but no, 2018 got busy too…
New dairy-free shakes, shake up lockdown
It was a hard year for many, in many ways. The team kept working on milk ambitions when they could and were able to launch the newest dairy-free and plant-based range: Shaken Other. Demand was high as Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Boots were eager to stock the new 330ml, whilst Marks & Spencer and Asda wanted to go large with our dairy 750ml share bottles too in the same week. Gulp. Success during a tough year continued….Up and at it after lockdown
It was full throttle for 750ml bottles, with the launch of the
delicious Salted Caramel share size.
But of course, more milkshakes meant more sales, so new
milk-loving team members were warmly welcomed into the
Shaken Udder family.
Whilst lots of ideas, sustainability reviews and recipe sampling
are going on behind the scenes, at front of house, the kids
carton range had a bit of a revamp, and all straws became
paper ones.
Shaken Udder was now No.1 premium milkshake in the UK,
and even took to TikTok.SHAKEN UDDER GETS A MAKEOVER
What a phenomenal couple of years Shaken Udder has had growing away. We felt, with this growth, it was time we deserved a face lift. Cue, our fresh new look with the same great taste we all love