Appleby Creamery wins at 2022 Great British Food Awards

Appleby Creamery, which is based on the Cross Croft Industrial Estate in the town, has won the Flavour Added Cheese category in the prestigious awards for its Eden Smokie.

Its Eden Valley Brie was also highly commended in the Soft Cheese category.

In addition, Appleby Creamery’s Black Dub Blue was shortlisted in the Blue Cheese section of the awards.

Maurice Walton, managing director said: “We are absolutely delighted.

“To produce our handmade, quality products everybody at the creamery has to be committed and involved and these awards are recognition of the hard work of the whole team.

"The awards also recognise the quality of the milk we use, how it is handled and the way the cheese is produced, ripened and packaged.”

Members of the Appleby Creamery team celebrate their success by the River Eden. Missing from the photograph are Anne Guy Ian Barlow and Mark Callander (Image: Appleby Creamery)

The Great British Food Awards, whose categories include dairy, cheese, drinks and savoury preserves, celebrate the country’s finest artisanal produce, as well as the hard-working people who create them.

Eden Smokie was named best Flavour Added Cheese by judge Steve Groves, a winner of MasterChef: The Professionals.

He said: “An excellent Brie with well-judged smoking. The flavour and texture on the cheese is excellent and the smoke really lifts it to another level. Delicious.”

Eden Smokie is the smoked version of the company’s very popular brie. 

Earlier this year it won Gold at the Great Yorkshire Show in the Speciality Cheese Maker, Cheese with Added Flavour Class and it also won a gold award at the International Cheese Awards in 2021.

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Appleby Creamery, which employs 12 staff, is run by Mr Walton and Mark Callander, who is the fourth generation of his family to farm at Crofthead in Dumfriesshire in Scotland.

Mark has spent the past 20 years developing and nurturing his Ayshire herd to produce high-quality milk from which most of Appleby Creamery’s cheese is made. Goats and sheep milk are also used in some products.

Appleby Creamery managing director Maurice Walton (right) and operations manager Tom Jackson inspect cheese made at the factory (Image: Appleby Creamery)

The company was founded in 2007 by Maurice and his wife Sandra, Alan Mandle and his wife Ruth and Bob Parmley. It started in smaller premises close by and, after continued expansion, moved to its current site four years ago.

Appleby Creamery says it is keen to support the local community. Over the years it has taken on many local youngsters as apprentices and given them training. 

The company supports Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland as its chosen charity.

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