Wyke Farms boosts export trade facilities
ONE of the West Country’s leading cheddar makers has announced the completion of a new export ‘centre of excellence’, as soaring global demand gives cause for further expansion.
The state-of-the-art facility at Wyke Farms includes a significant increase in cheese maturing capacity, with an additional 2,500 tonnes of cheddar stocks being aged on site to support the growing appetite for its 18-month-old Ivy’s Vintage Secret Recipe Cheddar across the world.
Based at Wincanton in Somerset, the energy-efficient site has been built to incorporate solar, heat recovery and air-sourced heat pumps, with increased cheese dispatch storage to allow the family-run company to better consolidate container orders prior to export in a post-Brexit world.
Supported by a £1.3 million food processing grant under the Government’s Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) growth programme, this latest development forms part of Wyke Farms’ ‘100% Green’ Sustainability Plan, through which they have dramatically reduced their carbon footprint and become the first national cheddar brand to be 100% self-sufficient, using their own energy generated from solar and biogas.
Rich Clothier, managing director and third generation family member at Wyke Farms, said: “This investment, supported by the RDPE growth programme, is vital in preparing our business to service our growing export markets across the world.
“Built to the highest environmental standards, this export hub will allow us to continue to export more of my grandmother’s Ivy’s Vintage cheddar to over 160 countries in a post-Brexit world, in the most environmentally responsible way helping to secure jobs and livelihoods of people in Somerset.”
One of the UK’s largest independent cheese producers and milk processors, Wyke Farms produces more than 13,000 tonnes of cheddar per year to the same award-winning recipe.
Remaining a traditional family business, Ivy’s grandsons Richard and Tom now run the cheese-making operations with their father John, while her other two grandsons David and Roger run the dairy-farming operations.
The eco-friendly expansion accommodates an additional highspeed cutting and packing line for increased volume, as well as longerlife cheese packs for export markets.
Paul Caldwell, chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), added: “The RPA is pleased to have been able to support this project through funding from the Growth Programme.
“The investment brings much needed additional export capability and job creation to Wyke Farm’s cheese processing facility. Just as importantly, it offers increased stability to the dairy farmers who supply the milk that goes into the cheese at a difficult time for the sector.”