Cheesemakers hit by tragedy maturing nicely

Last February their mother, Swaledale Cheese legend Mandy Reed, died suddenly during a burst of freezing weather at 47.

The tragedy was a cruel echo of the loss of Louise and Sam’s father, David, who died from a heart attack in 2005.

Mandy had founded the Swaledale Cheese Company with David in 1987 and her passing threatened the future of the business which had quickly become one of Yorkshire’s best-loved cheesemakers.

The passing also thrust son and daughter Louise and Sam into the spotlight as they quickly pledged to continue the family tradition of making artisan Yorkshire cheeses in this perhaps most quintessential of Yorkshire towns.

Louise, 26, who is now sales director at the company, says: “We didn’t need to think about it.

“It was never really a question – we just said ‘We’re going to do it!’ After all, all we’ve ever known is cheese.

“We sat down and said let’s just concentrate on getting through the first year. We asked for everyone’s patience and, yes, we’ve had a few hiccups but everyone has stuck by us.

“We’d like to thank everyone who’s wished us well over the past 11 months. It has definitely helped.”

Sam, who works under the title of production director, is only 21.

He says that at times the past year has been hard but he agrees with his sister: “We’ve been given more support than I ever could have imagined.”

Now 11 months on from that dreadful day last winter, Louise and Sam have learned to smile again.

And there are definitely things to be happy about.

They have not only continued to make good cheese but have also won major awards.

In 2012, the Herriot Award for Food Producer of the Year, gold and silver rosettes at the World Cheese Awards and a first prize at the Great Yorkshire Show have all come their way, the latter luckily awarded just before the show had to be abandoned due to wet weather.

The business produces a wide range that includes Swaledale Blue, Smoked Richmond, Bedale and Old Peculier Swaledale.

However, it is probably best known for Traditional Swaledale, which has been given Protected Designation of Origin status under EU law.

Louise and Sam seem to have developed the perfect working partnership but surely as siblings they must squabble now and again?

“From day one,” explains Louise, “we said that if one of us doesn’t agree with something, then we don’t do it. We have to both be in full agreement. That was mum and dad’s way of working.”

And the two have been making plans to take the business forward over the coming year, not least because 2012 should have been a year of celebration.

Mandy and David Reed started making cheese 25 years before in their kitchen at home and this year their children plan to relaunch smoked goat’s cheese and also do something special to honour their parents.

“Our parents worked extremely hard for this place and for us,” says Sam.

Further into the future, Louise would like to take their cheeses onto the international market.

At the moment, Swaledale cheeses are available in some of the major supermarkets but Louise is eyeing up Canada, Germany and Holland, where she thinks the cheeses could do well.

“But first we have to conquer the UK,” she says.

Given the history of the business the question is automatically raised if the siblings expect to be producing cheese in another quarter of a century, when Louise will be in her early fifties and Sam in his mid forties.

Louise says she is in little doubt that she will be.

For more information about the Swaledale Cheese Company, visit www.swaledalecheese.co.uk.