LAKE DISTRICT CHEESE COMPANY SCOOPS SEVEN AWARDS AT THE BRITISH CHEESE AWARDS

Employees at the Lake District Creamery are celebrating continued success for their Lake District Cheese Company cheddar from this year’s prestigious British Cheese awards.

Their tally of a gold, a silver and five bronze titles, brings the creamery’s sum for 2009 so far to 62 awards – beating the 2008 total of 55.

The creamery is enjoying an extremely successful 2009 cheese show season.  Crowned Best UK Cheddar at the International Cheese Awards in Nantwich, the Lake District cheddar has also 18 Gold; 24 Silver and 19 Bronze awards to its credit.

The Lake District Cheese Company brand is riding high at present.  The creamery recently announced that it had sold more than five million packs of the award-winning cheddar since its launch just over 18 months ago  – and it is presently the fifth best selling cheddar brand in the UK.

Creamery manager, Andrew Pearson, said his team was absolutely delighted at the success. “It is really important for the reputation of the Lake District Cheese Company to be known as a producer of award-winning cheddar.  Both new and existing customers take notice of which creameries are winning the big prizes, so it is crucial for the profile of our brand to be successful at these shows.”

The Lake District Creamery, which employs 81 staff, is in the heart of an important producer area for First Milk.  “We have 350 dairy farmers in Cumbria so it is a very tight-knit area.  They are delighted their local creamery which is right on their doorstep, is producing a high profile brand of award-winning cheddar and putting Cumbria firmly on the map as the leading dairy county.

“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 Mr Pearson.