Awards roll in for Teesdale cheese makers

AWARDS have continued to roll fin or a team of dale cheese makers.

Jonathan and Allison Raper, of Teesdale Cheesemakers, have continued to rack up recognition for their array of cheeses from their Rokeby farmhouse.

Now the pair are celebrating a prestigious “two star” label from the Great Taste Awards for their Teesdale Goat alongside another star for their White Hilton.

Mrs Raper has also been announced as a regional finalist in the Forward Ladies National Business Awards bringing the firm’s total to 14 accolades in the past year.

Mrs Raper said: “We are doing really well. It’s quite phenomenal in less than two years.

“To be getting recognised when we are so small, I just cannot believe it – I keep thinking someone is going to say we’ve mixed you up with someone else.”

The couple took over Leaside Cheeses from Brian and Esme Dedman in 2015 and rebranded the business.

Milk from the family farm at Hilton goes into the cheeses before it is finished and matured at the farmhouse.

But with the firm expanding and fighting to keep up with demand, Mrs Raper said the team was still hunting new premises.

She added: “The biggest problem we have got is Teesdale is quite expensive. We have looked at every property that has come onto the market in the past year.

“We need it in Teesdale and reasonably close to the milk – particularly in winter.”

Peak sales are around the corner in October as customers begin to look towards Christmas.

The firm’s new brie launched this summer has been christened “Barney Brie” in a nod to its roots with a “Rokeby Red” also in the pipeline.

Mrs Raper said the firm had taken on extra staff to help them a couple of days a week and online orders on their website are slowly ticking up.

But she added it was important the firm remained profitable and sustainable.

“We have had a lot of requests from restaurants and others but we’ve had to say no because we do not have the logistic distribution,” said Mrs Raper.

“This is probably going to be our next big challenge.

“We make 300 litres at a time which is tiny – if we could make more in one day it would mean fewer days in the dairy and more time developing the business as well as going out and seeing people.”