Neal's Yard Dairy is a London artisanal
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
retailer, wholesaler and (formerly)
cheesemaker in London, which was founded by
Nicholas Saunders and Randolph Hodgson in 1979. It has been described as "London's foremost cheese store." As of 2020 the company has three shops and a cheese store in London.
History
Neal's Yard Dairy was founded in 1979 by
Nicholas Saunders and Randolph Hodgson after Saunders returned from a 1978 trip to
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
and could not find
Greek yoghurt for sale in London. Scouring the city for anyone familiar with it, and finding none, he decided to open his own dairy. While looking for people to run it, he eventually met Hodgson, who had recently graduated with a degree in
food science. Saunders was skeptical of Hodgson's degree, considering it useless, but found him willing to experiment. When they opened in July 1979, their yoghurt tasted terrible, which was eventually traced to the
varnish on the curing cupboards. They launched the shop with a line of ice creams and homemade soft cheeses, and within a few months had solved the problems with the yoghurt.
The original store, located in
Neal's Yard,
Covent Garden, London, is considered an important part of the revival of the immediate area.
One of the first customers was
Monty Python's
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...
. The new owners were still learning how to make cheese, and "had only managed
yoghurt that day, so it all rather descended into a
Monty Python sketch".
Despite this rocky start, the store grew from a cheesemaker into a retailer of artisanal, mostly British and Irish cheeses (including farmhouse
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese (or simply cheddar) is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white (or orange if colourings such as annatto are added), and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar, Somerset, Cheddar in ...
and varieties such as
Stinking Bishop), spinning off the cheesemaking operation as ''Neal's Yard Creamery'' in 1985.
The shop moved around the corner to 17
Shorts Gardens in 1992. A cheese store was opened in
Borough Market in 1997, which opened as a second shop in 1998. By 2010 the cheese store was moved to railway arches in Druid Street,
Bermondsey. Together with
Monmouth Coffee Company and a property company, Neal's Yard Dairy took a lease on a stretch of railway arches around
Spa Road railway station in Bermondsey to provide accommodation for food manufacturers and wholesalers. The company headquarters moved into railway arches at
Spa Terminus in 2018. In 2020 the company opened a fourth shop in Islington.
As of 2020, the company sells about 550
tonnes of cheese a year through its shops, exports and online.
References
External links
*
Photo Story about Neal's Yard Dairy cheese shop
{{Authority control
Shops in London
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark
Dairy products companies of the United Kingdom
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Camden
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Southwark
British companies established in 1979
Food and drink companies established in 1979