THE JOURNAL | FOOD & DRINK
Meet the Maker:
Neal's Yard
Food writer and former cheesemonger, Neil Davey, explores how this plucky dairy forged a new path for British cheese.
One of our most inspiring suppliers and just a short stroll from Covent Garden Hotel, discover what sets this enterprising team apart - from sourcing, supporting and championing the best of British and Irish cheeses, to maturing them to perfection.
Neal’s Yard Dairy is the UK’s best cheese shop. End of debate.
It’s partly the wide range and remarkable quality. It’s partly the knowledgeable team. Mostly though, it’s because of what they do behind the scenes.
“Neal’s Yard Dairy is fundamental to how we work,” says Martin Tkalez who, alongside wife Hazel, makes Pevensey Blue, a Gorgonzola-influenced cheese, in Sussex. “Like many, we wouldn’t have started cheesemaking unless there was a Neal’s Yard Dairy.”
This country’s strong cheesemaking tradition has faced multiple challenges over the years. That Britain and Ireland now produce around a thousand distinct, named, regional cheeses – a culture to surpass almost anywhere – is almost entirely down to Neal’s Yard Dairy and its founder Randolph Hodgson.
The story begins – unsurprisingly – in Neal’s Yard, a street in Covent Garden. An entrepreneur named Nicholas Saunders purchased a former banana warehouse and built up several food businesses there.
On holiday in Greece in 1978, Nicholas discovered proper yoghurt. Unable to find it back home, he recruited recent food science graduate Randolph to make it, and thus, in 1979, Neal’s Yard Dairy was born, selling yoghurt, ice creams and homemade soft cheeses, gradually adding a range of artisanal cheeses.
The 1980s were tough though for cheesemakers. Supermarkets drove prices (and quality) down. Farmers markets didn’t exist. Environmental bodies insisted cheese be made with pasteurised milk. And Neal’s Yard Dairy stepped in and stepped up, offering cheesemakers support, guidance and new opportunities.
The business has played a part in the success, survival and / or creation of so many now widely recognised cheeses. Montgomery Cheddar, for example, with its complex savoury flavours. The “buttery crumble” of Kirkham’s Lancashire. Multi-award winning, Camembert-like Tunworth from Hampshire. Baron Bigod, Suffolk-based Fen Farms’ answer to Brie. Ultra-traditional, raw milk blue Stichelton - and so many more.
-
Holden Farm Dairy in Wales, where Hafod Cheddar is made -
The dairy herd on the Appleby family farm, makers of Appleby's Cheshire Cheese -
The Appleby family farm, makers of Appleby's Cheshire Cheese -
The Neal's Yard Creamery -
Fen Farm Dairy in Suffolk, home to Baron Bigod
Like the cheese industry they support, Neal’s Yard has also grown substantially. There are now five shops, plus extensive ageing rooms at their Bermondsey site. The latter means Neal’s Yard work with suppliers to bring cheeses to absolute peak condition and deliver them to the consumer when at their best – and have a wealth of knowledge about making and ageing cheese they happily share with their cheesemakers. They also continue to support the industry through every challenge. When the Pandemic threatened to destroy many cheesemakers virtually overnight, for example, Neal’s Yard Dairy’s campaigning helped their suppliers sell a remarkable 14 tonnes of cheese in a month.
“Neal’s Yard Dairy perform a role that nobody else does, and nobody else can,” says Martin. And he’d know: before making Pevensey Blue, he managed the Borough Market shop. Changing to cheesemaking hasn’t been easy but Neal’s Yard Dairy has made it easier. “It feels collaborative,” says Martin. “We can call and ask what do you think about this batch? How is it selling? And they tell us. “With some wholesalers, you’re a line on a spreadsheet. At Neal’s Yard Dairy, you’re an individual.”
As I say, the UK’s best cheese shop… but also one of the UK’s most admirable businesses.
Neal's Yard Dairy is a two minute walk from Covent Garden Hotel and one of Firmdale's most beloved and enterprising suppliers. Keep an eye out for a very exciting collaboration, coming soon. Think Afternoon Tea, but make it savory, and all about cheese. Launching April 2026.
Neal's Yard Dairy, Covent Garden, 17 Shorts Gardens, London, WC2H 9AT
www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk
About Neil Davey
Neil Davey is a freelance writer, author and consultant (and, as it happens, a former Neal's Yard Dairy cheesemonger). As a writer, he's contributed to outlets such as National Geographic Traveller, the BBC, Hello!, The Independent, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. He's written three books including one on food and one on chocolate for the Bluffer's Guide series. Neil now travels the world and eats for a living but, judging by the state of his shirts, isn’t very good at it.