Barwheys Dairy to Close Spring
2019
It is with a heavy heart that I share the news
that after 10 years of operation I am closing Barwheys
Dairy.
I set the dairy up in
2009, establishing a new herd of pedigree Ayrshire cows which
produce the sweet, creamy milk that the breed is so famous for,
building the facility and developing the Barwheys cheese
recipe.
We were delighted
Barwheys was well received, winning six gold medals in six
successive years at the Royal Highland Show - including Best
Scottish Cheese and Best Scottish Cheddar in various years - and a
gold at the Great Yorkshire Show this year.
But the world of micro-artisan food businesses is a tough one and I
realise we are simply too small to resist the increasing pressures
that our industry is facing. Like other small businesses we have
been subjected to increasing financial pressures in terms of costs,
pricing, demand and payments. These make it difficult for a
micro-business to be sustainable.
On top of these financial pressures and the usual challenges of
farming, our regulator, Food Standards Scotland (FSS), who have a
well-publicised aversion to raw milk cheesemaking, are proposing
increasingly invasive and onerous inspection and testing regimes.
Despite the pronouncements of the Scottish Government on the
importance of the Scottish food industry, the attitude of their
agent FSS makes us feel that we are being irresponsibly stubborn in
wanting to continue making a high-quality, traditional raw milk
cheese. This has taken all the joy out of our previously happy
enterprise.
So I'm afraid that we have stopped production, the cows are now
sold and once our stocks of Barwheys cheese have run down in the
Spring there will be no more.
I'd like to thank all the people that have supported us over the
last 10 years - my lovely team who are deeply upset at the news,
our loyal customers who order the cheese, accept justifiable price
rises and pay their bills promptly, my neighbours who have looked
after my cows and have helped to grow the herd from the day we
bought our first two (Madge and Jen) and my local environmental
health officers who have been as supportive, knowledgeable and
sensible as they can be given the regime within which they
operate.
Thank you also to all our social media friends who have supported
us with kind messages over the years.
I’d like to think that we have contributed in some small way to the
artisanal food ecosystem in Scotland – and I’m deeply sorry that it
has been for such a short period of time.