The Clothier family have farmed the land of Somerset for over 200 years. The original cheese recipe was created by Ivy Clothier as a hobby. She used her husband’s first cow herd to produce cheese. The recipe became well known in local areas and she later bought milk from other farms. She won many awards for her cheese, the first being in 1952. Ivy’s recipe is still used today. John Clothier left Tom Clothier and sons to create the Wyke Farmhouse Cheddar company in 1980 but by 1992 the brand name was changed again to Wyke Farms as it fitted in the packaging better.
Address: Wyke Farms, White House Farm, Wyke Champflower, Bruton, Somerset, BA10 0PU, UK
About the farm
Wyke Farms occupies nearly 700 hectares and produces the third largest cheddar brand in the UK from its own 1,000-strong dairy herd and milk bought from 150 other suppliers in Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. It produces Wyke Farms branded butter and cheese, evaporates milk for Yeo Valley yoghurts and wraps Yeo Valley
It is the largest independent cheese maker and milk processor in the UK, turning out over 14,000 tonnes of cheddar, and it exports to more than 160 countries. The Clothier family began making Somerset cheddar in 1861 and Wyke Farms still uses Ivy Clothier’s traditional recipe.
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Wyke Farms is redefining the dairy business and has become the first national cheddar brand to be 100% self-sufficient in solar and biogas energy.
The Guardian, 30 April 2015
Green initiative
Wyke Farms started its 100% Green initiative back in 2012 with a goal of improving the environmental sustainability of it business operations. The flagship project is our AD Plant, processing feedstock to generate renewable energy and nutrient rich digestate fertiliser. The farm also has solar arrays across multiple site roof spaces both which have increased in capacity of the years. Besides this, it is also recovering water from the production processes to reduce its reliance on primary water use. There are many other improvements and solutions that the farm management have implemented as part of carbon, water and waste reductions across our sites.
With its HQ being in the rural setting of Wyke Champflower and its other sites in the surrounding area the farm team are very conscious in their relationship with the ecosystems around them that they depend on to live and work. As they say, “Farming is an important part of our business and we have been trying to improve habitats on the farm, for example, by increasing tree and hedge planting in recent years”.
2021 expansion plans: https://www.southwestfarmer.co.uk/news/19170010.wyke-farm-begins-expansion-work-double-cheddar-output/
“Today we are experiencing environmental change as never before and the need to take action has never been more urgent. To preserve our planet, we need to act now”
David Attenborough
The Team
John Clothier (Executive Chairman ) began his cheesemaking career at the age of five; his mother Ivy bringing him to the dairy ‘to keep him out of trouble’. John has put his years of experience to good use, devoting his life to the family farm and business that his parents started in the early 20th century. John continues to help his sons Richard and Tom and nephews Rog and Dave run the business to this day.
https://www.dairyindustries.com/news/34431/wyke-farms-appoints-new-chairman/
“I have worked here for over 5 years. I work on a number of technical areas in the business but mainly on renewable energy and environmental.
I really enjoy how varied my job is and that I work on so many different aspects of the business. My job title is only a snapshot of what my day could involve, from sitting at my laptop in my office one minute to being out and about at our AD Plant, in a field when we are digestate spreading or at our production facilities. I like being involved in our many green initiatives and trying to make positive environmental changes across the business which is very satisfying and rewarding.”
Jason Fewell, Engineering Director, on 15 years at Wyke, Ivy’s Dairy & Teamwork…
“In 15 years, I have had many highlights at Wyke. One project that stands out is the commissioning and building of our Anaerobic Digestion Plant. The completion of that project meant that Wyke runs on 100% renewable energy, as do several local villages. Pretty impressive stuff given that the waste we use would have previously gone to landfill! Following this building a low energy wastewater reuse plant where we recover 80% of the water, we use on site for cleaning the plant.
From winning the European Sustainability Award to being first dairy to achieve the Carbon Trust Triple Standard (waste, water, and energy) just confirmed that not only did it make good business sense but it also fantastic for the environment – something that is always at the forefront of our mind as a business.
In recent years, demand for our cheddar has grown, particularly in export markets. And with cheese that tastes this good it is no surprise! We have recently completed the build of an energy efficient 2200 tonne maturing store at our Wincanton site & now we begin the highly anticipated build of Ivy’s Dairy. A 10000m2 production space which will ensure that our production of cheese and butter are fit for the future.”
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Cow manure powers Somerset’s charismatic cheese-makers
A West Country family cheese-maker is showing UK farmers what energy self-sufficiency really means
Wyke Farms is redefining the dairy business and has become the first national cheddar brand to be 100% self-sufficient in solar and biogas energy.
A new biogas plant nestling in fields in the Mendips is part of a £10m investment programme that has attracted international interest in this Somerset family business and brought it multiple awards.
Wyke Farms’ “100% Green” slogan is more than branding – it’s a long-term plan, carefully introduced over several years, with further innovation to come. The company has seen off the country’s largest brands for this coveted green credential by converting farm and dairy waste and harvesting solar energy – allowing it to rip up soaring monthly energy bills.
There are no half measures for Wyke Farms. In fact, it’s not only the first national cheddar maker to be self-sufficient in energy, it’s one of the first UK grocery brands and it’s saving over 22m kilos of CO2 a year.
The company sells internationally from rolling countryside around the Anglo-Saxon town of Bruton, where the family’s been making cheese since the 19th century.
Wyke Farms occupies nearly 700 hectares and produces the third largest cheddar brand in the UK from its own 1,000-strong dairy herd and milk bought from 150 other suppliers in Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire. It produces Wyke Farms branded butter and cheese, evaporates milk for Yeo Valley yoghurts and wraps Yeo Valley butter.
Read more
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Powered by poo: Somerset dairy farm enjoys biogas boom
A dairy farm which converts manure into methane gas has increased production so fast it is now making enough gas for 6,000 homes.
So-called biogas has become controversial in recent years, with claims that land is being turned over to fuel production rather than food.
But dairy farmer Richard Clothier insists there is huge untapped potential in natural waste.
“For us, the muck is now as important as the milk,” Mr Clothier said.
He is the third generation of his family to farm dairy cattle near Bruton, in Somerset. His firm, Wyke Farms, has grown to be one of the UK’s largest independent cheese makers.
When you visit a dairy farm, they usually show you fine young cattle and perhaps a fancy new milking parlour. Mr Clothier starts his tour with the slurry tank. A large, steaming, swirling pool of brown cow muck and water. He loves it.
He said: “We bring school children here and they love the fact that we make power out of poo. They never grow tired of saying it, and nor do I.”
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Ivy’s Reserve Vintage Cheddar
Ivy’s Reserve is named after Ivy Clothier, our grandmother, who perfected the recipe around 1930. Using milk from the herds tended by her husband Tom just a stones throw from the Somerset village of Cheddar, she fine-tuned a method of making vintage Cheddar that’s won us countless awards over the years.
Her parents, the Thorns, had been making cheese nearby since the 18th Century but Ivy brought her own talents to the process. A formidable woman who was known to all for her warmth, tireless hard work and community spirit, she ensured that everything she undertook was done properly, from sweeping the floor to her tasks in the dairy.
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BBC’s Follow the Food – the Carbon Challenge
The Carbon Challenge
In this Follow the Food special programme, Botanist James Wong explores the complicated relationship between food and carbon. Agriculture produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide, but it also has the potential to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. James meets the farmers, scientists and innovators attempting to solve agriculture’s carbon challenge.
Wyke Farms is profiled in this episode:
