Vintage Year for Arran Cheese

First Milk’s Isle of Arran Creamery has enjoyed a vintage year for cheese awards.
The Torrylinn creamery, which is home to the unique Isle of Arran Dunlop, has scooped an impressive 11 awards at agricultural shows during 2008, including a prestigious silver at the recent World Cheese Awards.

The island creamery won gold at the Royal Welsh Show in July and has picked up five silver and five bronze medals at shows right across the country throughout the summer.

Alex Home, general manager of the creamery, said his six-strong team was delighted at its success. “Cheese shows are the shop window for our products,” he said.

“We know existing and potential customers take notice of who’s winning these awards, so it is important for the long-term success of our brand and our creamery to be known as a producer of award-winning cheese.

“Particular credit should go to our cheesemaker Paul Murray, who’s been with the business for over eight years. These awards are testament to his efforts in creating superb quality cheese.”

Isle of Arran Dunlop is made with 100% Arran milk, provided by three farms on the island.

“Regional provenance is important to consumers who want to know where their cheese is coming from – and that they are also supporting local farmers,” added Home.

“Buying our Isle of Arran cheese means that consumers know that the milk is local and the cheese is local – and it is also an award-winning cheese.”

Torrylinn Creamery was opened by King George VI in 1947 and has continued to makes its traditional Dunlop cheese by hand in open vats using milk supplied by local dairy farms.

Dunlop is widely recognised as Scotland’s national cheese and the Torrylinn creamery is the only creamery supplying this traditional cheese to the UK’s major retailers.

First Milk is the largest dairy farmer co-operative in the UK, its members’ farms stretching from central Scotland to the south of England and from west Wales to East Anglia.