Wensleydale Creamery

Wensleydale Creamery is a cheese manufacturer based in the town of Hawes in North Yorkshire, England. It makes several varieties of cheese, but is most notable as a producer of Yorkshire Wensleydale, a variety of Wensleydale cheese with PGI status. It is a subsidiary of the Canadian dairy company Saputo.

The Wensleydale Creamery Visitor Centre

History
The Wensleydale Creamery
A Wensleydale Creamery stall at a 2014 Test match

In 1897 Edward Chapman established a commercial creamery in Hawes using traditional techniques and milk bought from local farms. The creamery was taken over in the 1930s by Kit Calvert who sold it to the Milk Marketing Board in 1966.[1] In May 1992, Dairy Crest, a subsidiary of the Milk Marketing Board, closed the Hawes creamery with the loss of 59 jobs. Dairy Crest transferred production of Wensleydale cheese to Yorkshire's traditional rival, Lancashire. Six months later, in November 1992, following many rescue offers, a management buyout took place, led by local businessman John Gibson and the management team. With the help of eleven members of the former workforce, cheese making returned to Wensleydale.[2]

Wensleydale Dairy Products sought to protect the name Yorkshire Wensleydale under an EU regulation; PGI status was awarded in 2013.[1][3][4]

After 2015
Tourists appreciate the quaint exhibits at the Creamery

The business moved to its current location in Hawes in 2015 and still handcrafts the eponymous cheese with a staff of 230. In 2017, the company made a £5 million investment in its dairy and cheese making facilities.[5] In the financial year ending March 2017, the company sold 4,664 tonnes of cheese.[6] The company estimated revenues of £27.5 million and pre-tax profits of around £1 million in their financial year ending in March 2018. Exports make up about 15% of the revenues and visits by tourists another 10%.[7] The creamery has become a tourist attraction, visited by up to 300,000 people each year.

In January 2018, the company appointed David Salkeld as its new Chairman, replacing Matthew Gribbin who was with the Creamery for ten years.[8]

Wensleydale Creamery has won many awards at The Great Yorkshire Show's Cheese and Dairy Show. In 2018 Yorkshire Wensleydale took the Reserve Supreme Cheese title. The company also received ten gold, four silver and four bronze awards and four Best of Category trophies.[9] In 2017, the creamery had won 22 awards.[10]

In mid 2019, an announcement indicated that cheese waste (primarily whey) from the Creamery, which makes 4,000 tonnes of cheese per year, would help heat 4,000 Yorkshire homes with renewable "green gas". The Leeming biogas plant will use anaerobic digestion to turn the waste into methane biogas which will be burned for conversion into electricity. (The plant was already using this process with dairy waste from an ice cream manufacturing facility.)[11][12] Any whey residue remaining after the process will be spread in the area to improve the soil.[13]

In July 2021 the business was acquired by Saputo for £23 million.[14]

Products

The Wensleydale Creamery makes several cheeses including Cheddar, Red Leicester and varieties of Wensleydale such as Blue. Their Yorkshire Wensleydale is produced in versions including traditional, smoked, and blended with cranberries.[15]

COVID-19 Outbreak

On 4 August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson for the Wensleydale Creamery said: “Five colleagues who work within our production area have tested positive for COVID-19. We have responded quickly, working collaboratively with Public Health England and North Yorkshire County Council, to provide tests for all members of our production team and ensure that effective and appropriate measures are in place to contain the spread of the virus.”[16]

On 17 August 2020, Wensleydale Creamery confirmed that a total of nine employees have tested positive for COVID-19.[17][18]

References
  1. "Denomination Information Yorkshire Wensleydale". OJEU. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  2. McAteer, Owen (30 July 2008). "Cheese firm wins overseas contracts worth millions". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  3. "Uniquely Yorkshire". Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  4. "EU Application for Yorkshire Wensleydale". Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  5. "Wensleydale Creamery looks for more farmers". The Guild of Fine Food. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  6. "Wensleydale Creamery back in profit". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  7. "We'll go somewhere there's cheese, Gromit!". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  8. "Former Arla CEO named chairman of Wensleydale Creamery". TheBusinessDesk.com. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  9. "Wensleydale Creamery wins Supreme Champion Cheese at Great Yorkshire Show". Richmondshire Today. Richmondshire Today. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  10. "THE WENSLEYDALE CREAMERY WINS 22 AWARDS AT THE GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW". Wensleydale Blog. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  11. Snowden, Ros (9 August 2018). "Iona expands green energy portfolio in Yorkshire". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  12. "Cracking cheese, Gromit! Wensleydale waste to heat 4,000 homes". The Observer Guardian. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  13. "Cheese toasty! Watery waste from making Wensleydale cheese will help keep thousands of homes warm". Woman's Tale. 16 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  14. "Saputo acquires Wensleydale Dairy Products in £23m deal". Food Manufacture. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  15. "Our Cheeses". Wensleydale Creamery. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  16. Willis, Joe (4 August 2020). "Five staff at Wensleydale Creamery test positive for Covid-19". Richmondshire Today. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  17. "Cheese producer confirms further coronavirus cases". BBC News. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  18. Willis, Joe (17 August 2020). "Three more Covid-19 cases confirmed at Wensleydale Creamery". Richmondshire Today. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
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