Neal's Yard Dairy is a London artisanal

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges 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 production, ...

retailer, wholesaler and (formerly)

cheesemaker Cheesemaking (or caseiculture) is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrat ...

in London, which was founded in 1979. It has been described as "London's foremost cheese store."

History

Neal's Yard Dairy was founded in 1979 by Nicholas Saunders and Randolph Hodgson as a cheesemaker's shop. The original store, located in

Neal's Yard Neal's Yard is a small alley in London's Covent Garden between Shorts Gardens and Monmouth Street which opens into a courtyard. It is named after the 17th century developer, Thomas Neale. In 1976, alternative activist and entrepreneur Nicholas ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, London, is considered an important part of the revival of the immediate area. The shop moved around the corner to 17 Shorts Gardens in 1992. One of the first customers was

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

. The new owners were still learning how to make cheese, and "had only managed

yoghurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...

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. Cheddar originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. Ched ...

and varieties such as Stinking Bishop), spinning off the cheesemaking operation as ''Neal's Yard Creamery'' in 1985. A cheese store was opened in

Borough Market Borough Market is a wholesale and retail market hall in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London, with a market on the site dating back to at least the 12th century. The present buildings were b ...

in 1997, which opened as a second shop in 1998. By 2010 the cheese store was moved to railway arches in Druid Street,

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

. Together with

Monmouth Coffee Company Monmouth Coffee Company is a coffee roaster, retailer and wholesaler in London, which was founded in 1978. It played an important role in regenerating Neal's Yard and Borough Market. It has remained focused on roasting and selling coffee beans a ...

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 Spa Road railway station in Bermondsey, south-east London, was the original terminus of the capital's first railway, the London and Greenwich Railway (L&GR). It was also the first railway terminus in what is now Greater London. First opened in ...

in 2018. In 2020 the company opened a fourth shop in Islington. As of 2020, the company sells about 550

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s of cheese a year through its shops, exports and online.

References

External links

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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