British Cheese Board honours industry professional

The British Cheese Board has presented Win Merrells with the Bath & West Show Cheese Industry Award for 2014. The annual award, which recognises outstanding contributions to the UK cheese industry in the areas of production, marketing, research or training, was presented as part of this year’s Bath & West Show Awards by the Duchess of Cornwall.

The award (now in its 16th year) recognised Win’s 37 year career spent in the food retailing sector, at least 10 of which she has dedicated to the dairy industry. Win became only the second person from the retailing world to win the award.

Nigel White, secretary of the British Cheese Board says: “Win’s contribution to the cheese industry has been considerable and this award recognises her remarkable career. Her extensive experience in the dairy sector with M&S and Sainsbury’s have shown Win to be a commendable winner of this year’s Award. She has cemented strong relationships along the way and shown herself to be a great ambassador for British cheese.”

Merrells originally trained as a home economics teacher before moving into food retailing with BHS and then M&S where she worked as a product developer, innovating new cheeses and recipes, including a new Cheddar recipe for Taw Valley Creamery, which went on to win Supreme Champion at the International Cheese Show at Nantwich.

Merrells has spent the last three years working with Sainsbury’s helping to overhaul the retailer¹s cheese selection, both pre-packed and deli counter.