For more than 40 years, Neal’s Yard Dairy has been home to those cheeses made in Britain and Ireland widely believed to be the very best. Some are “territorial” cheeses that have been produced in the same way for centuries, reflecting the unique climate and culture of their home region: Cheshire, Lancashire, Caerphilly, Red Leicester and many more. Others channel the tastes and inventiveness of their makers, often taking inspiration from the cheesemaking traditions of other parts of Europe.

Neal’s Yard Dairy was founded in 1979 by Randolph Hodgson, a keen but inexperienced cheesemaker, in a small shop tucked away in what had previously been a derelict corner of London’s Covent Garden – the eponymous Neal’s Yard. With its wholefoods store and coffee roastery, Neal’s Yard would soon become a popular destination for food lovers, including farmhouse cheesemakers who would call in at Neal’s Yard Dairy, which in those early days was making and selling Greek-style yoghurt, creme fraiche and a couple of cheeses. Randolph began visiting their farms, learning about their work and bringing some of their cheeses back to his shop – one of the few places in the country that would offer them an outlet. As his immersion into this small community of British cheesemakers deepened, Neal’s Yard Dairy offered a route for Randolph to share with the world those cheeses he fell in love with that were otherwise being neglected.