Phil Barber and I are both members of the Dairy Farmers of Britain and about 50 miles from us at Landyrnog in North Wales is one of their cheese factories. Together with our Lyon students and with our area business manager Paul as our guide we went for a visit.
Paul told us the factory is the 4th largest of its kind in the UK and is capable of producing 20,000 tonnes of cheese in a year making it at a rate of 100 tonnes over a 24hour production run.

Firstly the tankers arrive from farms such as ours and before any of the milk is unloaded into the stores it is sampled to check it is fit for use.

 

It is then pumped out of the tankers into these storage tanks called silos each containing about 30,000 litres of milk when full.

When the machinery starts firstly starter (this is called rennet) is added to begin the process in these vats and once the milk has turned into curds the remaining liquid the whey is drained off. The cheese is then pressed to squeeze out remaining whey and air as the factory makes mostly cheddar cheese which is harder and denser than some other types.

The final product is packed into blocks weighing 20kgs and then put into a cool store to allow the cheese to mature and get its unique flavour. A mild taste will take about 3months where as a vintage (and much stronger tasting) takes over a year. The man who decides when the cheese is ready for the next stage is called a grader and the factories grader has 29 years experience in his job and is a VERY important link in the process.

20kgs is a far too big a block for the average family to buy and so the blocks are cut up in to 500g blocks and packaged ready for transport to the shops and sale to the public. The machine cutting these blocks is laser guided for pinpoint accuracy and maximum efficiency of cutting.

The trimmings from the process are all mixed together regardless of type and flavours added such as chilli flakes and then they are made into these round flat “Truckles” weighing 1kg so nothing is wasted. We left all impressed by the plant’s operation and efficiency levels as the whole site only employs 138 people including the canteen staff and of course purchasing some samples to take home from the factory outlet.