our state of the art butter dairy

Press Release: Embargoed 7th March 2023

Wyke Farms Open £10m Butter Dairy Facility

Grand funded dairy to produce freshly churned premium butter for UK & global markets

Bruton, Somerset 7th March 2023: Wyke Farms, Somerset’s prizewinning Cheddar and Butter makers and producer of renewable energy, announce the start-up of their new butter dairy facility this week.

Somerset based Wyke Farms have invested £10 million into the state of art dairy, £480,000 of which has been supported by grant funding from the Rural Development Programme for England, which is jointly funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The grant funding paid for plant and equipment in the new dairy.

The dairy expansion project is part of Wyke Farms’ five-year plan for growth, underpinned by sustainably increasing volume and strategically targeting specific regions worldwide. The company will now produce freshly churned premium butter with longer shelf-lives allowing for shipping to premium export markets, as well as driving a reduction in waste both in store and at home.

Wyke Farms remain focused on traditional farmhouse butter recipes and plan to bring ‘Ivy’s Reserve Salted Farmhouse Butter’ to market in Q2 2023. Produced from whey cream and premium sea salt, Ivy’s will be the world’s first carbon neutral butter and will join Ivy’s Reserve Cheddar as a top tier offering for UK and export. Conventional and organic butters will also be crafted in the dairy.

Rich Clothier, Managing Director, third generation family member at Wyke Farms and Ivy Clothier’s Grandson, says: “The world butter market is worth nearly 20 billion US$ and is predicted to grow by 50% by 2027. Increasingly, people across the world are looking for premium dairy products with provenance and history - butter is no exception. This investment will allow us to offer our multi- award-winning Somerset single-churned artisan butters, with longer shelf life, into regions across the world.”

The butter dairy facility is built to Ivy Clothier’s founding principles of producing the best-in-class quality, combined with an industry leading respect for the environment. The development is both energy and water efficient and the investment will build a sustainable long-term future and sufficient infrastructure for servicing increased sales of award-winning Butter in both the UK and export markets; crucial now, as Wyke Farms continues to benefit from substantial growth in total export sales both to the EU and the rest of the world; up almost 30% ye 2022.

Wyke Farms’ products are made on the family farm in the centre of the Cheddar making region in Somerset. In the UK Ivy’s Reserve Cheddar is available in Tesco stores nationwide and Wyke Farms cheddar and butter are available in selected Lidl, Morrisons and Southwest ASDA and Tesco stores as well as 167 export markets. All products are available online at: www.wykefarms.com/shop

For more information, interview, and images, please contact: jodie@connectedpr.com

Notes to Editor:

Wyke Farms Ltd is a family run company based in the heart of the Somerset cheddar-making region. The art of traditional cheese making will never be lost on the Somerset farm where the Clothier family have been making cheddar since 1861. Today, Wyke Farms is the largest independent cheese maker and milk processor in the UK producing over 18,000 tonnes of cheddar per year to the same award winning 160-year-old recipe.

Wyke Farms Cheddar is sold throughout the UK and to 167 countries around the world, with retail sales of over £120 million. Wyke Farms is a progressive cheesemaking business that remains true to its roots. The enterprise was established by Ivy and Tom Clothier using the family cheese making recipe and today, their grandsons Richard and Tom now run the cheese making operations with their father John, whilst her other two Grandsons David and Roger run the family dairy farming operations. The four grandchildren share Ivy’s passion for cheese making where flavour, texture and taste are paramount. They believe that this attention to detail is the reason that their cheese has won more awards at national cheese shows than any other.

Wyke Farms are committed to sustainable farming and are proud to be the UK’s first national cheddar brand to become 100% self-sufficient in green energy. Wyke Farms sources all its electricity and gas from both solar and biogas, generated from the farm and dairy waste. The biogas energy is generated from its own anaerobic digester (AD) plant, which saves Wyke Farms over 20 million kilos of carbon dioxide per annum. The company are now Europe’s most sustainable business[1].

They have received national and international recognition for their on-going commitment to sustainability, and have won numerous awards including:

• Family Business Top 100 2022
• Sustainability Initiative of the Year – Grocer Gold 2022 finalist
• Footprint Awards 2022 – finalist
• European Business Awards – Environment & Corporate Sustainability Category – European Champions
• The Renewable Energy Association Winner - Sustainability Category
• Insider “Made in the UK” Awards
• Winner of the Grocer Gold Awards – Green Initiative of the Year 2016
• The Guardian Sustainable Business Awards 2016
• UK AD & Biogas Industry Awards – Best on Farm AD Project –Winner
• The Guardian Sustainable Business Awards 2015 (Winner in Carbon & Energy Management)
• The Footprint Awards – Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (Winner)
• IFE World Food Innovation Awards Winner Best Corporate Social Responsibility Category
• National CSR Awards - Environmental Leadership Award (Winner)
• The Guardian Sustainable Business Awards (Winner in Waste Innovation Category)
• Insider Made in the UK – Green/Sustainable Manufacturer Award (Winner)
• The UK & Biogas Industry Awards for Best AD Plant in the Food & Drink Industry (Winner)

Managing Director Rich Clothier has been recognised for his passion and commitment to sustainability. He has won the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards ‘Personality of the Year’, The UK & Biogas Industry Awards ‘AD Hero of the Year’ and Farmers’ Weekly ‘Sustainable Farmer of the Year’ Award.

www.wykefarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/wykefarms
www.ivys-reserve.com/
www.london1856.com/

Project Name: 115998
Project description: Butter Filling & Wrapping Machine
Project aim: The project will allow the business to further grow its added value butter export business. The project aim is to add value to the milk produced by primary milk producers and help to supply additional volume into the world market with longer life quality butters. The project is part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing

[1] As granted by the European Business Awards.