Yorkshire cheesemaker wins big at regional and global dairy awards
Yorkshire Blue, a soft blue cheese crafted at the family-run Shepherds Purse Cheeses dairy in North Yorkshire has been named Best English Cheese at the Nantwich International Cheese Awards in Cheshire, UK.
This year’s show attracted more than 40,000 visitors.
Shepherds Purse cheeses were among a record 5,000+ cheeses of every type judged in the 83,000 sq ft Cheese Marquee at the show. 300 experts and professionals from the dairy industry donned their white coats and tested thousands of entries from 26 countries.
Yorkshire Blue also scooped Gold in the Blue Cheese (hard and soft) category and Bronze in the Blue Vein class. Yorkshire Fettle picked up Silver in the Sheep Milk Cheese class, while Mrs Bells Blue, named after the dairy’s founder Judy Bell, won Silver in the Blue Cheese (hard or soft) category. Bluemin White also triumphed in the Best English Cheese category with a Bronze award.
This year’s 160th Great Yorkshire Show saw the cheesemaker win even more awards, picking up the Best Blue Cheese in Show for Mrs Bells Blue, which was also awarded Gold in the Blue Cheese (hard or soft category, excluding Stilton) and Silver in the Soft Blue class.
Blue Monday, which is made by Shepherds Purse for Blur star Alex James and named after his favourite New Order song, won Gold in the Soft Blue Cheese class. Yorkshire Blue picked up Silver in the Soft Blue competition while Mrs Bells Blue was also awarded Bronze in the Made with 100% Ewes Milk class. Katy’s White Lavender won Bronze in the Cheese with added flavour line up.
Caroline Bell, director, Shepherds Purse Cheeses, comments, “The team is absolutely delighted to win such prestigious prizes both globally and in our home county of Yorkshire. We are so proud to scoop so many awards which is a kitemark for the continued quality, innovation and consistency of our handcrafted cheeses made in Yorkshire.
“To win top accolades for both Yorkshire Blue on the world stage and Mrs Bells Blue on home territory is amazing. We are delighted to fly the flag for English cheeses and indeed Yorkshire among some of the best, top class cheeses from around the world and our region.”
