Yorkshire Dales cheese to appear on TV (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Yorkshire Dales cheese to appear on TV

11:32am Thursday 22nd October 2009 in Hawes news By Ian Boydon

A YORKSHIRE Dales creamery has applied to the EU to have its product protected - because it believes the location where it is made is key to its attraction.

The Wensleydale Creamery, at Hawes, is also launching its first ever television advert as part of its campaign to have its cheese given Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) by Brussels.

Bosses at the creamery, which employs 190 staff, hope that if the application is approved it would prevent creameries based elsewhere from calling their cheese Wensleydale.

“We are investing in a television advert and branding Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with a stamp of authority as part of a concerted campaign to pre-empt the granting of the PDO, which is currently being considered by Europe,” said David Hartley, managing director of The Wensleydale Creamery. “After all, the Italians have their Parma ham and the Greeks have their Feta cheese and thanks to this campaign customers will be able to see that Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese is the genuine article with it being made in Hawes in the heart of Wensleydale.”

The television commercial, which will be broadcast on ITV in the Tyne Tees region, focuses on where the cheese is made and also highlights the milk, which comes from cows grazing in the dale’s limestone meadows.