Scottish Artisan Cheese Makers

From the experts in cheese, at Provender Brown

When it comes to cheese it’s easy to reach for French, Italian or Swiss as the global gold standard. Indeed, in 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle asked, "How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?" And today that number is estimated at between 1,000 and 1,600 distinct types of French cheese.

However, as a team with over 30 years of collective expereince in all things cheese - cheesemongers, cheese lovers and cheese sellers - we're here to argue the case for the excellence of something a little closer to home - Scottish cheese. Admittedly, we may not boast 1600 varieties but as is the case with most food worth enjoying, quality over quantity wins the day for us.

Scottish cheese has always differed from that of England and Wales; because the Romans didn’t invade as far north as Scotland their European cheese-making techniques were never absorbed into our traditional recipes.

As a result, Scottish cheeses remained Celtic in origin for centuries with variations of Caboc and Crowdie leading the charge. It wasn’t until the time of industrialisation and increased movement of goods and people that Scotland’s cheesemaking became more ambitious and varieties such as Dunlop, similar in technique to English Cheddar, started to appear.

By the early 1930s about 1000 farms in Scotland produced cheese but the commercialisation of the dairy industry hit hard and by 1966 there were only eight remaining. I believe at one point in the '70s they were all but extinct. Thankfully for all of us, the early 1980s brought something of a rennaissance and a number of farmers returned to producing quality artisan Scottish cheese. 

By the end of the nineties Farmers Markets had started to emerge in Scotland – Perth being the first in 1999 – and with them, the ‘buy local, eat local’ movement. This fuelled the momentum of the Scottish food and drink industry and gave dairy farmers the platform needed to venture into artisan cheesemaking.

Today, there are around 30 Scottish cheese producers, with the Royal Highland Show launching the prestigious Dairy Championships in 2017. Texture, aroma, taste all play a part in grading within 36 categories with a number of classes focused on ensuring small, artisan cheesemakers are given the representation they deserve. As you may expect, Provender Brown stocks many of these award-winning cheeses, including Strathearn Cheese from right here in Perthshire.

It would be wrong to suggest, however, that all is now rosy in the Scottish cheesemaking world.  Whilst 38% of Scottish milk is used for cheesemaking, the vast majority of that goes to the big industrial producers and that is where the growth is focussed.  For the small producers, it is generally a hard grind with long hours and low margins.  The tiniest change in the milk or production process can have a huge effect on the end cheeses and they are dealing with products that are either highly perishable with short-shelf lives or require long maturation thus tying up capital. 

Food safety requirements are onerous and complex and cheesemakers face the prospect of prosecution (not to mention, danger to life) if they get it wrong.  Like everyone else, in recent times they have been hit by the triple-whammy of Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine. We know of at least one small producer who has had to change the starter culture they use, as post-Brexit it now requires a vet's certificate in order to be shipped from France!  

It would be fair to say that there are easier ways of making money and those who stick with it deserve our admiration and support.

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