Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producer and producer of renewable energy, officially start groundwork this week to re-build its Bruton-based dairy, doubling the company’s capacity.
The dairy expansion project is part of Wyke Farms’ five-year plan for growth, which is underpinned by sustainably increasing volume and strategically targeting specific regions worldwide. Named ‘Ivy’s Dairy’ after Wyke Farms’ matriarch, Ivy Clothier, the new space will include a 16,589m² state-of-the- art production facility. The dairy is being built to Ivy Clothier’s founding principles of producing the best-in-class quality, combined with an industry leading respect for the environment. The development is both energy and water efficient and sympathetic to the surrounding environment, with soft landscaping and a natural grass roof. The company is working towards Q2, 2023 as target completion date for this part of the project.
The investment will build a sustainable long-term future and build sufficient infrastructure for servicing increased sales of award-winning Cheddar in both the UK and export markets; crucial now, as Wyke Farms continues to benefit from substantial growth in export sales both to the EU and the rest of the world (up almost 20% ye 2020). The company has strategically built on its maturing Cheddar stocks over recent years, in order to service the global market for older, longer-aged cheeses. In September 2020, the company opened its new cheese store with space for 1,762 pallets of cheese, amounting to approximately 2,000 tonnes of additional storage capacity, which is required to meet the demands of growing export sales in vintage flavour profiles. The new store is 2,500 times the size of Ivy Clothier’s original cheese store on the farm in Wyke Champflower.
Wyke Farms’ cheese and butter is made with the milk from cows grazing the lush pastures of the Mendip Hills in the centre of the Cheddar making region in Somerset. Wyke Farms products are available in selected Lidl stores and in South West UK ASDA, CO-OP and Tesco stores. All products are available online at: www.wykefarms.com/shop.
