Wyke Farms announces partnership with Westland Cheese
Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producer and producer of renewable energy, has announced a working partnership with Westland Cheese (Westland Kaasspecialiteiten B.V.).
The new partnership was developed following a market prioritisation study to identify key areas with the biggest potential. The study covered global macro trends, key industry, market, trade and societal drivers in the international cheese market. Holland and Germany were identified as key markets for growth.
Wyke Farms has said it selected Westland Cheese as its chosen distributor for several reasons, namely for the company’s effective marketing and selling functions and the fact that its ability to reach the Dutch and German markets has been proven over the past 80 years with the world-renowned Dutch Gouda ‘Old Amsterdam’ brand. Akin to Wyke Farms, Westland Cheese is a strong family business and places value on corporate social responsibility with an established ‘Family Trust’ supporting cultural events. Additionally, Westland Cheese also has a sustainability programme that underpins all of its work.
As part of a strategic approach to selling in the market, in 2019 an independent consumer taste test was commissioned in three German cities, where Wyke Farms Cheddars were panelled against the competitive sets. The Wyke Cheddars were unanimously voted as the ‘best tasting’. Listings have already been secured by Westland for the brand, with many more in progress.
“Quality produce from Great Britain has being very well received in European markets” said Rich Clothier, third generation cheesemaker and managing director at Wyke Farms. He continued: “the time is right for us to increase our offering into these regions and have chosen the best partner to help us do this.”
“We are delighted to develop a strategic partnership with a family business that holds strong and similar values to our own” said Henny Westland, third generation family member and managing director at Westland Cheese. “At an unprecedented time of change, these values, quality of products and way of doing business have a clear competitive advantage and point of difference to consumers in the market.”
In the UK, Wyke Farms products are available in selected Lidl stores and in the South West in ASDA, Co-Op and Tesco stores. All products are available online at: www.wykefarms.com/shop.
