An Alpine-style goat’s cheese made in Dartmouth, Devon was named Britain’s Best New Cheese on Wednesday 24 September, following a public vote during the live online final of People’s Cheese 2025. The competition, run by The Real Cheese Project and sponsored by Chiswick Cheese Market, saw hundreds of cheese lovers tuning in, tasting along, and choosing their favourites, before Redlap by Stone Tree Dairy was revealed as this year’s Champion.
This incredible accolade comes just one year after Stone Tree Dairy started making cheese, using milk from their own small herd of goats in Devon. Similar in style to a Tomme, made in the Alpine regions of France and Switzerland, Redlap is unlike any other cheese being produced in the UK today. This hard raw milk, washed rind goat’s cheese from Stone Tree Dairy has a distinctive rust-coloured rind, and a smooth, mellow, yet complex flavour profile, which develops throughout the seasons.
Helen Boyd from Stone Tree Dairy commented: “We were amazed to have reached the final four and particularly so to have been awarded the winner. After only a year since we first started selling our cheese, it is humbling but enormously encouraging that so many people are enjoying it. Our pastures, our goats, our milk, our team and the support we have received locally – together the alchemy of artisan cheesemaking – all come together to make a cheese we’re really proud of. We’re grateful to The Real Cheese Project and Chiswick Cheese Market for making this event possible, and send our huge congratulations to all the shortlisted cheesemakers.”
People’s Cheese 2025: Britain’s Best New Cheese began back in June, when Round 1 was held at Chiswick Cheese Market. Hundreds of people took part in the public judging, where they tasted and assessed 20 newly launched cheeses from across the UK to select this year’s finalists. Reflecting changing tastes and attitudes among consumers, three out of four finalists were made with goat’s milk, while three of the four were also soft cheeses.
Alongside the winning Redlap from Stone Tree Dairy, the other finalists included: Yr Afr from Wacky Wedge in Bethesda, North Wales, a Crottin-style lactic raw milk goat’s cheese with a geotrichum rind; Nanny Gwynn from Cornish Cheese Co. in Liskeard, a goat’s milk version of its Cornish Brie; and Ooh La La! from Highland Fine Cheeses in Ross and Cromarty, a soft and silky lactic cheese made with cow’s milk and a little extra cream.
The live online final was introduced by comedian and cheese fan, Marcus Brigstocke, and hosted by The Real Cheese Project’s James Grant. They were joined by a panel of experts, including Tracey Colley from the Academy of Cheese, Lucy Cufflin from Chiswick Cheese Market, food writer Clare Finney, and author and photographer, Angus D. Birditt, who each championed one of this year’s finalists, before the public jury cast their votes.
Now in its third year, the cheese awards of the people celebrated Cheddar in 2023 and then Britain’s Territorial cheeses in 2024, before launching ‘Britain’s Best New Cheese’ in 2025 to help showcase cheesemaking innovation in the UK. The competition’s mission is simple – to get the country’s best artisan cheese in front of more people.
5% of all profits will go into a Real Cheese support fund, which will be donated to initiatives that protect, develop and progress real cheese in the UK.
