Pilgrims Choice is a cheese
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
owned by Irish dairy exporter
Ornua
Ornua
from the Irish "Ór Nua" meaning "new gold" (known as The Irish Dairy Board from 1961 to 2015) is an Irish agricultural cooperative, which markets and sells dairy products on behalf of its members: Irish dairy processors and Irish dairy fa ...
(formerly Adams Foods Ltd and the North Downs Dairy), with UK operations based in
Leek, Staffordshire.
Despite an
Identification Code of UK LK002, Pilgrims Choice is substantially sourced from Irish-produced cheese. The company packs include Mature Cheddar, Mature Lighter and Extra Mature Cheddar.
History
Pilgrims Choice was founded by David Hardisty, the founder of North Downs Dairy, in 1985, and was bought by the Irish Dairy Board in 1997.
The company's brand name comes from the route known as
Pilgrims' Way, which Hardisty drove down daily on his way to
Wincanton.
The brand Pilgrims Choice was launched onto the retail market in 1999 as a pre-packaged cheese in its trademark black packaging. Pilgrims Choice Farmhouse Vintage Extra Mature then became Britain's fastest growing
Protected Designated Origin
The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...
West Country farmhouse cheddar brand, with sales of more than £20 million by the year 2000.
In 2014, Pilgrims Choice partnered with
Britain’s Got Talent
''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...
to launch the ‘Make The Pilgrims Choice’ campaign. The campaign gave viewers the chance to vote for contestants that didn't get through the first round of auditions by visiting the company's website and casting their vote.
In September 2020, it was announced that Ornua would revamp Pilgrims Choice cheese blocks with a plastic-saving eco-friendly pack format.
In July 2022, Pilgrims Choice launched a 10-second TV advertising campaign targeting gastronomes on
Food Network, as well as
Discovery+
Discovery may refer to:
* Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown
* Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown
* Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence
Discovery, The Discover ...
and YouTube. The campaign also included a recipe partnership with the online cooking platform Mob Kitchen.
In October 2022, it was announced that Simon Ball was appointed by Ornua as the managing director of Ornua Foods.
Reception
In 2019, Pilgrims Choice was ranked the UK's 4th top cheese brand by
The Grocer. In 2020, Ornua reported sales of Pilgrims Choice had grown by 25% in the past 52 weeks, outperforming the general category by 10%.
In 2022, Pilgrims Choice was ranked the UK’s 2nd top cheddar and Kerrygold and 3rd block butter.
References
External links
Official Website
{{British cheeses
English cheeses
Food brands of the United Kingdom
Wincanton