Neal's Yard Dairy

Neal's Yard Dairy is a London artisanal cheese retailer and (formerly) cheesemaker, described as "London's foremost cheese store."[1] The first store, located in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden, London, is considered an important part of the revival of the immediate area.[2]

Neal's Yard Dairy storefront in the Covent Garden district

Founded in 1979 by Nick Saunders and Randolph Hodgson as a cheesemaker's shop, one of their first customers was Monty Python's John Cleese. The new owners were still learning how to make cheese, and "had only managed yoghurt that day, so it all rather descended into a Monty Python sketch".[3] Despite this rocky start, the store grew from a cheesemaker into a retailer of artisanal, mostly British and Irish cheeses (including farmhouse Cheddar cheese and varieties such as Stinking Bishop), spinning off the cheesemaking operation as Neal's Yard Creamery in Dorstone, Herefordshire.[4]

A cheese store was opened in Borough Market in 1997,[5] which opened as a second shop in 1998.[6] By 2010 the store was moved to railway arches in Druid Street, Bermondsey.[7] Together with Monmouth Coffee Company and a property company, Neal's Yard Dairy took a lease on a stretch of railway arches around Spa Road railway station in Bermondsey to provide accommodation for food manufacturers and wholesalers.[8] In 2018 the company headquarters moved into railway arches at Spa Terminus.[9]

As of 2020, the company sells about 550 tonnes of cheese a year through its store in Shorts Gardens (near Neal's Yard in the Seven Dials area), its shop in South London's Borough Market, and through its exports worldwide, especially the United States.[10]

References
  1. "By Cheese Possessed" by Dana Bowen, The New York Times, April 27, 2005
  2. Fort, Matthew (12 January 2008). "Around Britain with a fork". Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. "OFM Waitrose Awards" – Best Small Retailer, Observer Food Monthly, February 15, 2004
  4. Archive of Neal's Yard Creamery: About us, March 25, 2018
  5. Andrews, Colman (21 April 2008). "New Life, Old Market". Saveur. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  6. Michae, lLane. "Neal's Yard Dairy to open new Islington cheese shop". Guild of Fine Food. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  7. "London's finest food markets". Country Life. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  8. Fernández-Esquinas, Hugo; van Oostrom, Madelon; Pinto, Manuel (7 December 2018). Innovation in SMEs and Micro Firms: Culture, Entrepreneurial Dynamics and Regional Development. Taylor & Francis. p. 196. ISBN 9781351016148.
  9. Coghlan, Adam. "Pioneering London Coffee Company's Roastery Makes Way for New Restaurants". Eater London. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  10. Burgoine, Laura (13 November 2020). "Say cheese". Southwark News. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.