Cheese Buyer - May 2025

4 @specialityfood T here’s plenty to appreciate and celebrate across the cheesemarket in 2025, as a number of newmakers and new products enter the scene. But, as anyone working within the industry will tell you, these highlights have beenmuddied by what’s been a tricky (and some say unbearable) fewmonths, in which both farming and retail have been rattled by newGovernment legislation, as well as pricing and supply issues. Farmers continue to fight IHT ruling When new Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out her stall last Autumn, it caused outrage within the farming community. Reforms on Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) from Inheritance Tax are due to be sanctioned fromnext April. This means tax relief will be capped at £1 million (£3million in some cases) and any amount above the threshold will be subject to 20%, rather than 40% tax, payable in interest-free instalments over a decade. the regulations sought to deter), as the IHT rates, “are still good for businesses at themoment. Some will think farmland is still a better investment than a pension”. “Whereas for family farmers it’s their living. You farm for your lifetime and pass the farm to your children, without making any money. We do this for the love of the land and animals and our children.” Ro thinks the threshold should be raised to between £5million and £10million, and that farmers aged 75 or over, who don’t know if they will die within seven years, should be exempt. “The advice was ‘don’t plan to hand on to your children yet’ because there was a nil rate. That’s what farmers were told, and they had no reason to think that would change under Labour because Sir Keir Starmer said it wouldn’t!” Likemany others in her position, Ro said she’s angry, despairing and disillusioned, having already heard stories of farmers taking their own lives due to the Government’s decision. “The people producing food here are being penalised for doing so. How is that helping the country?” she added. “It’s a very long-term tax, and a cruel tax.” Speaking earlier this year National Farmers’ Union president, TomBradshaw, said there is still time for the Treasury to review its position, adding that the NFU, alongside other organisations, has put forward a proposal that will raise themoney needed in a way that removes risk to British agriculture and food security. All eyes will now be on 2025’s Autumn Budget. Cheesemakers report shortage of organicmilk Stocks of organicmilk are running low across Britain, saymakers. This is devastating at a time when interest in organic food has peaked, with 2024 sales of organic producing reaching an all-time high of £3.7 billion according to Statista. Penny Nagle, founder of the Organic Cheesemakers’ Network, said, “We know other organic cheesemakers inmore remote parts of the UK are struggling to find enough organicmilk, so diversifying into non-organic cheese production.” She continued, “This compromises the values that organic milk brings in terms of biodiversity, sustainability, nutritional value and animal welfare. Organic certification is the only guaranteed assurance we have of all of these factors being in place on any farm.” Penny added that she is noticing growing demand for organic cheese. “Customers really appreciate the assurance of origin, and that the milk has been produced to the highest possible standards.” Although they’ve been conscious of it in the past, the teamat Godminster say the current shortage of organicmilk is particularly heightened. “About three or four years ago the differential onmilk price (after INSIDE THE CHEESE INDUSTRY Farming organisations, such as the NFU, have repeatedly sought out a better, fairer solution, but have beenmet negatively at every turn, with several farmers saying they plan to continue protesting until their concerns are heard. “You get the feeling the Government actually hates farmers,” said Ro Collingborn of Brinkworth Dairy inWiltshire, who added the proposals are like having the rug kicked out fromunder you. “Every new policy feels like another kick!” Ro can trace the family’s farming roots back to 1485, though the dairy was founded in 1910, today run by her daughter, Ceri Cryer – a fifth- generation cheesemaker. Brinkworth Dairy was one of the first farms to adopt Friesian herds, operating across 180 acres in the Dauntsey Vale. The business, and others like it, has not been considered properly by Government, Ro explained, adding that Labour has “totally reneged” on its promise to support farming, and “all without proper consultation”. She feels the new rules won’t impact investors (the very people What’s impacting the world of cheese and dairy right now? Cheese Buyer reports