Wensleydale Creamery invests in a greener future

Wensleydale Creamery has partnered up with Iona Capital in a deal that will help to heat hundreds of homes in Yorkshire using energy from a by-product of cheesemaking. Iona’s Leeming Biogas plant in North Yorkshire processes the by-product whey permeate during the manufacturing of the Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese, which will be turned into nearly one million cubic metres of green gas. The process of anaerobic digestion will then produce 10,000 MWh of thermal power, said to be enough heat around 800 homes a year in the area. Wensleydale Creamery’s managing director, David Hartley, said, “We are delighted to be signing this agreement with Iona Capital and proud to be delivering sustainable environmental and economic benefits to our region. The whole process of converting local milk to premium cheese and then deriving environmental and economic benefit from the natural by-products is an essential part of our business plan as a proud rural business. It is only possible as a result of significant and continued investments in our Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes and to sign this agreement and have the opportunity to convert a valuable by-product of cheesemaking into energy that will power hundreds of homes across the region will be fantastic for everyone involved.”

Wensleydale Creamery has also recently unveiled an interactive demonstration room at its visitor centre, part of an ongoing programme which has seen over £5 million invested across the whole cheesemaking business in the last five years. The launch also tied into the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the popular visitor centre, which attracts around 350,000 visitors each year. The new addition features a fully equipped kitchen and tasting area and technology for streaming demonstration footage, film and audio. There are also interactive cheese and butter-making demonstrations, delivered by the Creamery’s knowledgeable cheese experts, and a full programme of specialist cheese tasting, grading and pairing workshops and live cookery demonstrations.