Speciality-Food-July/August 2025

specialityfoodmagazine.com 19 “Blue cheeses are ripe for exploration,” he continues, echoing Charles’ views. “The short maturation means your assets aren’t hanging about. For producers, likeme, who aren’t cash rich and haven’t got the space or time to have thousands of pounds worth of milk-based products sitting on the shelf for 12months, blues and lactic cheeses are perfect. You have that quick turnaround and can get that cash back in the bank.” A tough year for pasture grazing The long hot spring and summer experienced in the UK so far this year will inevitably impact the production of cheeses frompasture- fed animals. “A lot of cheesemakers, like Sparkenhoe, are starting to think about how they farm long-term,” says Andy Swinscoe of The Courtyard Dairy. “They can no longer rely on grass andmethods that worked in the 60s, 70s and 80s. In farming, people are having to wake up to the fact they have to think broader and longer about what they’re doing in our ever-changing climate. This long, dry period is definitely an ongoing concern.” NFFN (Nature Friendly Farming Network) member Florence Mannerings farms a herd of native Shorthorns at Chilton Farm in Kent’s AlkhamValley, and says the issue is a particular problem in her part of the country, where animals graze on chalk soil. “Even in very wet years we are well drained and dry. As soon as this kind of weather comes, we are bone dry instantly. This year has been harder than usual and while we try our best to plan in advance in terms of getting sileage in,” she says, “spring was late and quite cold and dry, which meant the grass didn’t growuntil a bit later on than usual, and we’ve been buffer feeding hay and sileage a lot earlier thanmost years,” she explains. Farms having to buy in quality feed (where they don’t grow it themselves) will inevitably push up cheese prices, but solutions are being found within the regenerative system. Florence, for example, says they’ve put a lot of land to herbal lay crops and wildflower meadow. “You get more diverse root lengths fromherbal plants, and they’remore drought resistant – they do really well. We recently sileaged and yielded 96 bales fromeight acres of fields. For us, this has been brilliant. We’ve put another 15 acres in this year and plan another 15 next year.” Dependence on sileage – enough not only tomaintain cows, but to boost their productivity within the dairy sphere – is an extra cost many cannot afford and won’t have anticipated in their forecasts. Could herbal lays and flower meadows, then, be the future of pasture feeding? Time will tell. A regenerative future for dairy? More and more ‘noise’ continues to gather around the topic of regenerative farming, whichwas given a huge spotlight on Amazon Prime’s Clarkson’s Farm, as Jeremy Clarkson demonstrated the movement on his land alongside Wildfarmed’s George Lamb and Andy Cato. Public and farmer perception and knowledge of regenerative agriculture continues to grow, says LeonaMcDonald, sales andmarketing director at First Milk – producer of the UK’s first regenerative cheese brand, Golden Hooves. “Groundswell has had a 1,700% uplift in the last eight years, and Bath &West is putting on its second regenerative agriculture show, LandAlive this year. I think the interest ismassive,” Leona says of the regenerativemovement. “Retailers are looking to support the regenerativemovement too, which we’ve seenwith the recent launch of our Golden Hooves Salted Butter andMature Cheddar intoWaitrose. It certainly seems that the rest will follow and that’s exciting for us and our farmers as it’s our consumer brand that exists to celebrate the incredible work that they do every day to farmwith nature.” When it comes to food security and safeguarding the production of regen dairy, Leona says regenerative techniques can lead the way. “The whole thing around soil health is just massive. That’s where it all starts after all - we need healthy soil and we need to continue to regenerate and create a sustainable and resilient food supply for the future.” The results and impact regenerative farmingmethods are having already within the First Milk systemare clear to see, Leona adds, saying they’re recording improvements in soil health and habitats all the time. “For us, regenerative agriculture is a way of life. We’re deeply passionate about it. We love every wormand dung beetle SPECIAL REPORT A RETAILER’S PERSPECTIVE Mouse & Grape founder Jessica Summer shares her views on cheese retailing in 2025 “I think there’s a lot of emphasis at the moment on quality,” says Mouse & Grape founder Jessica Summer. “More people are conscious of what they’re consuming, and this lends itself well to cheesemongers because we’re obviously selling the best quality and best versions of cheese we can.” As more supermarkets put stock in packaging their cheese selections in a premium way, it’s up to indies to ensure they keep that quality high, constantly refresh their selections, and engage with would-be customers on social media, Jessica adds. In terms of trends, sales of soft cheeses such as Burrata, Mozzarella, Feta and Halloumi are growing, with more consumers heading into cheese shops and delis to find better versions of what’s available in multiples. These don’t traditionally make it onto the tasting block, but it’s worth making pairings and cooking pieces up if you have the facilities, to showcase not only their flavours, but the many ways they can be used. Jessica has noticed (like many others) an uplift in Gen Z shoppers, who are frequently popping in to make up cheeseboards. “It’s still expensive to go out for dinner. I went to a nice but average chain restaurant recently and spent £50 on dinner. Whereas you can come into a cheese shop and spend £50 for a group of six. It’s more economical definitely, and I think people are enjoying hosting. Where I am in Northwest London isn’t the most hip and young area, but we get a lot of young parents making the journey over here.” Gen Z and Millennial shoppers are not only concerned with taste, but with the way their cheeses (and the places they buy them) look. “You have to make your shop Instagrammable these days,” Jessica continues. “A feature wall is a nice idea. We always make sure the shop and the cheeses are well presented and beautiful. The younger generation is all about showing the best version of themselves – having a glass of rosé on Friday afternoon with a plate of lovely cheese. Think of your shop as a background. The choice of music is important too. One of our teammembers, who’s only 19, loves music and is always making us playlists – music people would recognise but with a younger twist. It gives our shop a fun atmosphere. If your cheese room is dry and uninviting people won’t want to come in.” we can possibly get our eyes upon. But we’re learning all the time as well. We’ve had a hot summer, and we’ve learnt through that - different things we can do, such as new soil compaction techniques and different herbal lays.” Flexibility and reactivity are what, she thinks, makes regenerative agriculture so important. “It’s a regenerativemindset. We’ve got tomake sure we keepmoving it forward, doing things better every time. The beauty is we can try something, hope it makes a really big difference, and if it doesn’t, we will pivot and change, but with the same goal inmind. “In our recent survey, we found that 95% of consumers would like to seemore regenerative food where they shop, so now is a really pivotal time for collaboration between retailers and brands tomeet people’s needs, but also to help thembetter understand the real meaning behind ‘regenerative’. We have to build trust and transparency in the supply chain by showing real examples and using clear language with no greenwashing. This type of piece is perfect - themore we talk about it, themore people know or can ask.”