Speciality Food Jan/Feb 2026

CHEESE UNCUT 29 New retail perspectives from industry experts Young Buck is back In the lead up to Christmas 2024 cheesemonger and cheesemaker Mike Thomson of Belfast’sMike’s Fancy Cheese faced one of the biggest challenges of his career so far. Stepping into thematuring rooms where his blue, Young Buck, was on the last part of its journey before retailing, rather than seeing wheels of mottle-edged beauty before him, Mike witnessed a total meltdown of the products, as the room’s temperature control hadmalfunctioned, taking the space to a balmy (and not suitable for keeping cheese) 30°C. “If it hadmelted at any other time of year it would have been fine,” he reflected, “but because it was Christmas week, all hands were on deck in the shop. I put the cheese to bed and thought ‘that’s us until Christmas’, but when I looked in to make an Instagramphoto in the final push, it had all melted – 350 wheels!” Thankfully the Christmas stock had already been taken for the season, but the incident put themaker on a backfoot. Thematuration roomhadn’t been empty in 11 years. Buoyed by other award-winning makers, who got in touch to tell Mike of their own disasters, Mike picked himself up and dusted himself off, and stocks of Young Buck are back in the swing for 2026 onwards. “We were able to keepmaking at the time,” he revealed, “but the productionwas smaller. We had another roomwhere we couldmature the cheese, and could only do around a quarter of what we did before.” It wasn’t until July that storage levels reached what they were before, allowingMike to up production. “Everything last year was about bringing Young Buck back!” The rawmilk blue ismade in 8kg rounds, crafted entirely by hand three times a week and aged for aminimum of threemonths. It transfers between threematuration rooms during its life, developing fruity, fresh flavours, a slightly crumbly texture, and a buttery mouthfeel. Mike said it’s “lovely” to have the cheese back and also thinks the disaster of losing somany cheeses has helped him to be evenmore resilient. “We knowwe can destroy everything and continue as a business,” he joked, “which is a good thing. The hardest thing, and something I’mvery bad at, was saying ‘no’ to people who wanted the cheese because supply was so limited and we had to keep some back for ourselves. That was tough. But we’re now getting out more, doing tastings and getting back to normal. It’s almost like it never happened. And we’re so grateful for the support we had. We’ve been very well supported by the cheese community.” specialityfoodmagazine.com First Milk, the farmer-owned dairy co-operative behind regenerative food and drink innovator, GoldenHooves, has revealed the results of its Impact Report for 2024/2025. Amongst the results are the potential of a 78% increase in soil carbon sequestration, up to 203,000 tonnes CO₂e – the equivalent of planting a staggering ninemillion trees – as well as a decrease of 3.4% in the carbon intensity of the co-op’smilk, with data collected rigorously fromall corners of the business, including over 700 family-run farms. First Milkmember farms currently take in over 360,000 trees, 5,564kmof hedgerows – greater than the distance between London and NewYork – and rotational grazing of cows on 48,000 hectares of land, up 54% since 2024. With a 6% increase in land within the co- op’s regenerative programme year-on-year, up to 89,977 hectares, whichwould be comparable to 125,000 football pitches, evenmore of Britain’s landscape is now able to benefit from the First Milk programme. LeonaMcDonald, director of Golden Hooves, said the Impact Report is “hugely exciting. We nowhave the data to show that regenerative farming delivers real benefits for farmers, nature, and consumers alike. Golden Hooves gives us license to celebrate this progress out loud – bringing food lovers great products, real stories, and proof that fantastic flavour and fantastic farming go hand in hand. Withmomentumbuilding andmore recognition coming our way, the numbers show that regeneration is here to stay. So look out for our hoof – it is proof that the product you are buying is 100% deliciously regenerative – and join the Regen Revolution!” Golden Hooves shares Impact Report The teamat Yorkshire-based Cryer & Stott have been enjoying their new blending facility immeasurably – saying it’s allowed them to work with evenmore local producers, to create unique, tasty and diverse newproducts. The family-runwholesaler and maker of Rhuby Crumble (with forced Yorkshire rhubarb and vanilla), Yorkshire Cask (with Kirkstall Brewery Virtuous IPA and wholegrain mustard) and Sheffield Forge (with Henderson’s Relish), has released three new cheeses in recent months. Business development manager, Jemma Ladwitch, said they’re constantly thinking of new ideas, and relish the opportunity to incorporate Yorkshire-made ingredients. Yorkshire Spirit, infused with whisky fromFiley Bay distillery, is Cryer & Stott release whisky-infused cheese something they’d wanted to create for a long time, she explained. “They’re so lovely to deal with and we like everything they stand for. Yorkshire Spirit ismade with our mature Yorkshire Red. You get the sweetness andmaturity of the whisky, and that blends perfectly with thematurity of the cheese, which is aged to around 12 to 15months. It marries really well and is such good comfort food for winter.” Two further cheeses have joined the collection alongside Yorkshire Spirit. 1606 Rebel combines Yorkshire Red with a Scotch Bonnet chilli jam fromThe Chilli JamMan, and Knaves Miremelds York Gin’s rhubarb gin with Cryer & Stott’s Eh Up Yorkshire Mature Cheddar. All are available to retailers now. “It’s our first year producing our own cheeses on-site, so it’s been great for us being able to create our flavours with no red tape,” added Jemma. “We can come upwith an idea and just make it. We’re also happy for farm shops or retailers, if they have an idea for a flavour, to come and see us to create their recipes. There’s a 20kg minimumorder.” info@sodiaal.co.uk www.sodiaal.co.uk @sodiaaluk La Pastourelle is the only Roquefort producer that belongs to its farmers, united by a strong cooperative model. • Made exclusively with milk from La Pastourelle cooperative. • Matured in natural cellars for at least 3 months. • Specific strain of penicillium Roqueforti. • Creamy melt in the mouth texture, with a good balance of acidity, salt and blue cheese flavour. • Now available in a new and improved foil, in half wheels.