the uk’s first carbon neutral butter

Press Release
EMBARGO: 29th May 2023

Wyke Farms launch the UK’s first carbon-neutral butter; ‘Ivy’s Reserve, Salted Farmhouse Butter’.

The best tasting, most awarded butter in the world, now available with carbon-neutral credentials as a result of investment in new ‘super-efficient’ butter dairy

Bruton, Somerset; 29th May 2023: Wyke Farms, Somerset’s prizewinning Cheddar and Butter makers and producer of renewable energy , today announce that their multiple prize-winning ‘Ivy’s Reserve Salted Farmhouse Butter’ is now available as a ‘UK-first’. The very special premium butter joins the Ivy’s range, alongside Ivy’s Reserve Vintage Cheddar, launched one year ago as the world’s first carbon neutral cheddar.

Both Ivy’s cheddar and butter are recognised with the ‘reserve’ status as an historic nod to Grandmother Ivy who, over 100 years ago, created the recipe and kept it as a family secret. For many years her cheese and butter were only available as gifts for family and close friends at Christmas time, but demand for this outstanding cheese and butter has grown around the world. 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.

Ivy’s Reserve Salted Farmhouse Butter is the best of the best and has been recognised as such with over 150 awards being achieved for outstanding flavour and exceptional premium quality. The butter is crafted by Ivy’s grandsons; made with the milk from cows grazing the lush pastures of the Southwest where the cream is the gently churned to create a decadent, smooth texture and still formulated according to Ivy’s secret family recipe.

The new product is part of Wyke Farms’ five-year plan for growth, underpinned by sustainably increasing volume and strategically targeting specific regions worldwide. The new facility operates at the highest standards of hygiene and can produce butters with longer shelf lives which in turn help to reduce food waste, as well as open shipping to new added value export markets.

Wyke Farms remain focused on traditional farmhouse butter recipes; ‘Ivy’s Reserve Salted Farmhouse Butter’ is produced from whey cream, is the UK’s first carbon neutral butter and will join Ivy’s Reserve Cheddar as a top tier offering for UK and export.

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 and Ivy’s Reserve salted farmhouse butter is a best- in-class product in terms of quality and sustainability, and it articulates our unique set of values that fit with this trend. We continue to make changes at Industry level as we push for more net positive improvements.”

Ivy’s Reserve salted farmhouse butter will be produced in Wyke Farms’ new butter dairy facility, that 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, powered by home-produced renewable electricity and gas, is both energy and water efficient. 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 have partnered with the Carbon Trust to undertake a cradle-to-grave footprint analysis and have certified the footprint of Ivy’s Reserve salted farmhouse butter as carbon neutral in accordance with PAS 2060. This is an internationally recognised specification for carbon neutrality and builds on the existing PAS 2050 environmental standard. It sets out requirements for quantification, reduction, and offsetting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for organisations, products, and events.

The Ivy’s Reserve brand identity has been developed by leading brand, design and marketing consultants, Big Fish: Ivy's Reserve - big fish® and offers a refined look, incorporating a hand sketched silhouette of Ivy on the front of pack.

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, interviews, samples and images, 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
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www.ivys-reserve.com/
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[1] As granted by the European Business Awards.