Renowned cheesemaker, Wensleydale Creamery, has ploughed new investment into its natural cheese smoking business creating a new smoke house at its headquarters.

Based at Hawes in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, the Creamery’s new smoke house will allow the business to more than double its current output of naturally smoked cheese which the firm started producing over 30 years ago.

The new facility has been developed after an increasing demand from customers, who have been asking for more naturally smoked products. The Creamery says data has highlighted a 43 per cent increase in searches for ‘smoked cheese’ in the UK in the last  three months alone and UK sales have grown by five per cent. 

Marketing manager Sandra Bell said the art of naturally smoking cheese results in an elevated and enhanced flavour throughout, as well as preserving the texture and quality of the cheese which takes on a beautiful golden-brown rind.

She added: "Alongside imparting a distinct smokiness to the cheese, it serves as a natural preservation method that doesn’t require any artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.

"The Creamery’s latest smoking technology means that we are able to increase our naturally smoked cheese range with a variety of natural smoked wood flavours such as Oak, Beech and Hickory which are FSC certified and sourced sustainably from managed woodlands.

"As consumers seek new flavours in their everyday shop, we’ve already started to see an increased interest and demand for natural smoked cheese which continues to grow in popularity.

"Our investment in the business’ smoking capabilities marks a major milestone for us, and we’re committed to innovating in this area. By more than doubling our smoking capacity, we hope to be able to grow our business further."