Speciality Food Magazine -November/December 2025

with the milk –muchmore gentle than stirringmanually.” It’s just one investment by the company that he says has had a marked and beneficial impact. “When I first started, this was all by hand. Now it’s automated, it makes a better job of it than we could. The cutting part is also quite critical. When I was cheesemaking back in the 80s, there were seven of us cutting by hand, and we all did something different. With automation, we can get that consistency.” Stilton curds are cut to a precise size which, says Richard is crucial for its mouthfeel and the moulding process to follow. “If we cut it too small we lose moisture. Too big and it retains too muchmoisture. That’s one of our ‘golden rules’.” A day later , fledgling Stilton (devoid of most of its whey, which is than 100 years of expertise inform these rules and criteria, designed to deliver consistent excellence, and meet PDO requirements every single time. The jewel in the crown at Clawson Farms is its Blue Stilton PDO, with around 3,000 rounds produced daily. The process is of crafting Stilton is deliberately long and slow– the goal being to make a cheese that’s low in acidity, creamy, buttery, and tantalisingly savoury and umami. Eleven vats, each holding 20lts of milk from the Clawson Farms co- operative, are brought to life every day – the maker’s secret blend of cultures and rennet blended in carefully using state-of-the-art stirring technology, which has truly refined the end product, says Richard. “The stirrers are very gentle in the way they react T he first thing you’ll notice as you tumble into the Leicestershire village of Long Clawson, is the quietness. A sense of peace pervades in this small part of Britain, where farmhouses and cottages nudge alongside lush, verdant fields occupied by tractors, ponies, sheep and cows. Trundling along tiny byways and lanes, or venturing onto the village’s clearlymarked countryside footpaths, you’d never suspect this very spot is the hub of one of Britain’s national culinary treasures – Stilton. Since 1912, it’s been home to Clawson Farms – the largest Blue Stilton PDO producer in the world – where 30 local farms within a 30-mile radius of the dairy, and a team of craft, artisan cheesemakers, transform the finest qualitymilk into award- winningmasterpieces. Clawson Farms is proud to be one of the oldest farmer-owned co- operatives in the UK. As custodian of the art of fine cheese, fromfield to fork, the business is firmly rooted in its heritage, traditions and community, while investing in the future – of its people, products and customers. Best in class blues Clawson Farms’ head cheesemaker, RichardMayfield, can be considered the ‘gatekeeper of greatness’. Leaving 38 @specialityfood school in 1988 with the intention of being a farmer, Richard joined the business as a teen, and nearly 40 years later hasn’t looked back. The industry, he reflects, must be ingrained deep in his bones; both his grandmother and uncle were cheesemakers. Richard says he’s been honoured to be witness of the evolution of Clawson Farms, and enjoys not only eating the cheeses they conjure together, but watching the smile creep over consumers’ faces as they try a Blue Stilton, Shropshire Blue or Rutland Red for the first time. It’s an “unbeatable feeling”. A large part of Richard’s role is ensuring every cheese made at Clawson Farms’ dairy is produced according to a strict set of ‘golden rules’ (different for each variety). More From its century-old co-operative roots, to its award- winning blue cheeses and a new generation of products designed for modern consumers, Clawson Farms is redefining what it means to be British artisan cheesemaker CLAWSON FARMS WHEREHERITAGEMEETS INNOVATION processed into whey proteins to be sold), is cut into strips, salted, tumbled lightly in a mill, and filled into the awaiting hoops. The level of care and attention to detail bestowed upon every Stilton from this point on is quite remarkable. They’re turned by a specialist machine in the ‘hastener room’ four times a day in strictly temperature-controlled conditions – not too cool, not too warm– to encourage their cylindrical shape and ensure the curds settle evenly. In the ‘White Room’, the Stiltons are cooled and firmed up, ready to be wrapped and smoothed. The cheeses are then nestled for 10 days in one of the oldest parts of the factory – the original, reconditioned vat room - where cheesemaking began in 1912. “We’ve got a brand-new air handling unit and state-of-the-art humidity control and temperature control so we canmature the cheeses at optimumhumidity,” Richard explains. “The cheeses spend two weeks in this room, and we turn them every day, by hand for four days to keep the shape, and create even moisture distribution throughout.” On day six they’re turned once more (more than 15,000 cheeses are hand turned daily), and their coverings are removed on day 10, at which point the Stiltons will go to live in the historic maturing rooms, where their individually distinct coats of mould burst forth onto the rinds. No two cheeses are the same, PDO EXPLAINED In 2026, Stilton celebrates 30 years of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status — a mark safeguarding its authenticity and heritage. Only cheeses made in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, using traditional hand-crafted methods, can be called Stilton. For Clawson Farms, one of just four licensed dairies, the PDO is a symbol of responsibility and pride, ensuring each wheel reflects the quality and provenance of local milk. As custodian of PDO Blue Stilton®, Clawson continues to honour tradition while innovating, from its award-winning artisan range to a new, milder 1912 Stilton recipe — celebrating both heritage and modern British cheesemaking. Clawson Farms’ farm liaison and sustainability manager, Ruth Grice, is proud to be part of the very special farm co-operative at the heart of the business