Thursday, 12 May 2016 13:55

UK cheese a hit in Europe

Written by 
Wyke Farms is a family run company in the heart of the Somerset cheddar-making region. Wyke Farms is a family run company in the heart of the Somerset cheddar-making region.

Europe's food connoisseurs can't get enough of British cheese, according to new UK Government figures.

Last year almost $700 million of British cheese exports went into the EU market; export volumes have increased by 8% since 2010.

Visiting Wyke's Farm, in Somerset, this month, UK Environment Secretary Liz Truss hailed the success of British cheese exports, three-quarters of which went to Europe last year. France alone bought $125m of British cheese, now growing reputation on the continent for quality and taste.

Wyke Farms is a family run company in the heart of the Somerset cheddar-making region. It is one of the largest independent cheese makers and milk processors in the UK, producing 13,000 tonnes of cheddar per year to the same award winning 150-year-old recipe.

Demand for Wyke's cheddar is growing in France, with sales up by 30% last year; 60% of all exports went to the EU, the top customers being France, Spain and Czech Republic.

The farm uses milk from its own herd which grazes the Mendip Hills, and from 150 other farms; it employs 250 people, making the business a crucial part of the rural economy.

Meanwhile, UK revenue and customs data recently showed that Britain exports far more cheese to France than to the US, despite the US population being nearly five times larger: in 2015 cheese exports to France were worth £125m vs $95m to the US. Last year, UK exports to Ireland alone — its top EU market — were $157m, more than exports to the US, Canada, UAE, South Africa, Australia and China combined.

More like this

Food insecurity

OPINION: Good on the UK'S NFU for battling to get supermarkets to prioritise local farmers' produce.

Buy local?

OPINION: Seven of the UK's major supermarket chains have now responded to the call for them to back the nation's farmers by adding 'buy British' tabs to their websites.

Still waiting

British and New Zealand trade negotiators are burning the midnight oil in a bid to get a free trade agreement between the two countries.

UK FTA hits crucial period

What happens in the next few weeks will be critical for New Zealand to secure a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK.

'We want an Aussie-style agreement'

What happens in the next six weeks will be critical for New Zealand to secure a free trade agreement (FTA) with the UK, according to the executive director of the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ), Kimberly Crewther.

Featured

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter