“Keeping it in the family”

In the late 50s, and then through the next three decades and on to today, a hardy breed of enthusiasts, farming families, foodies and others chose to take up the mantle of recreating that lost heritage. A 40 year journey that has bequeathed some real jewels in the crown of British regional and speciality cheese. True, some have fallen by the wayside as economics and changes in taste have overtaken the infectious enthusiasm of what was then probably youth, or, as in some instances, the inability to adapt and develop has not been mastered.

If one was to choose ease of life, then the dairy trade from maker to distributor would not be the wisest move in modern Britain, and so the crossover point for many families is here on the horizon now.

The younger generation is inculcated from all angles with the work/life balance theory, and that is reinforced by a demand for greater leisure time and a less pressured existence, as well as a myriad more things to do and more opportunities to fulfil that desire.

Generations of farming families are finding that sons and daughters no longer want to follow the hugely demanding, uncertain and increasingly complex life their parents trod.

Cheesemaking is probably not that dissimilar in generational terms. Unearthly hours, demanding and relentless input everyday, a harvest of cheese each day that can have a mind of its own if that intensity of care and skill is not practiced, and all with ruinous consequences.

The veritable army of auditing bodies from governmental, local and customer sources, all with their own agendas, are never aligned. Indeed, they are often in total conflict, and each takes time and adds cost. Few, if any, have ever made cheese, but experts all. I often muse that had most of today’s regulations been around in the 50s and 60s, we would have just bland Cheddar in mass blocks, made in something akin to a nuclear facility, necessary though some regulations clearly are!

Through all this tangle of change our hardy cheesemakers have struggled and succeeded, despite all the obstacles hurled in their way.

A few of the high risers of the 70s are coming to their own maturity, and maybe thinking of retirement and some ease and comfort after so many years of toil. A number have successfully made the generational change, bringing family in to drive the next period of growth.

Amongst these, the Appleby and Bell families have succeeded, as have Cumberland and Fowlers along with Quicke’s, Keens, Swaledale and others, as one generation passes the baton to the next – a cocktail of tradition and values, techniques and mystery.

Elsewhere, some of the transitions are harder to deliver, and releasing or protecting the asset value of a lifetime’s work creates a puzzle, or even a headache, to find the right solution for the future.

Could there be a role here for third party investment to maintain and grow the legacy of the founder, to continue the employment and the skill set of many operatives and maintain that countryside presence that allows tradition to pass to the future, and that may prove an interesting option for a number in this business? The hardest part is to seek that support or change, as opposed to working to exhaustion and leaving an unstructured future for what is now part of Britain’s food heritage.

The young should not be the sole beneficiary of fun and enjoyment, and the future will inevitably demand more capital investment, more contribution of skill, more technical demands, tougher market access and finance to fund growth, so seeking future investors, partnerships and crowdfunding may for some be a way to release their assets, enjoy the present and secure the future.

Keeping it in the family is almost always the right approach, but there are other options if sought at the right moment.