Rishi Sunak celebrates success during visit to the Creamery.

We were delighted to welcome our local MP for Richmond (Yorks), Rishi Sunak recently, who joined us here are the Wensleydale Creamery.

Mr Sunak came to hear all about our successful summer season here at the Visitor Centre, following a period of innovation and investment which has seen our turnover grow by 15% over the last year and by 4% on pre-pandemic numbers from 2019, thanks to a range of visitor offers and initiatives.

Mr Sunak came to hear all about our successful summer season here at the Visitor Centre

The visit was hosted in our ‘Taste of Yorkshire’ Tasting Room, part of our Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese Experience, where he sampled some of our range, including Wensleydale Blue and three of our newest truckle flavours: Yorkshire Wensleydale & Pineapple, Fountains Gold Garlic & Herb, and Fountains Gold Naturally Oak Smoked Cheddar.

We also showed him our newly rebranded Yorkshire Wensleydale and Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries cheese packs, which are currently launching in retailers across the UK to introduce a new generation of cheese lovers to our handcrafted range.

Also on show were samples of naturally smoked cheese, which were all produced in our brand-new cheese smoker here on site. Now in operation following significant investment, it has allowed our team to increase our natural cheese smoking capacity from 400 to 1000 tonnes each year smoking our own range as well as contract smoking for other markets.

Mr Sunak, said: “The Wensleydale Creamery plays such an important role in the local community

During the walk around our team Mr Sunak an update on the success and growth of our ecommerce business, along with the range of new hampers which are available for Christmas. He then paid a visit to our our Cheese Shop, where he tried his hand at cutting and packing cheese, before enjoying lunch in Calvert’s restaurant.

Mr Sunak, said: “The Wensleydale Creamery plays such an important role in the local community, driving footfall to the area and putting Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese on the map not just nationally, but also internationally. Seeing the success it’s had this year, and also the level of investment the team are committing to its growth, makes me incredibly proud to have it as part of my local constituency.”