West Dorset MP opens a brie-lliant new cheese room
Chris Loder says it's a grate success story for Hollis Mead Organic Dairy
A west Dorset Dairy Farm is celebrating a over a year of success by opening a new cheese making facility.
West Dorset MP Chris Loder cut the ribbon to the cheese room at Hollis Mead Organic Dairy yesterday.
He was surrounded by local Hooke residents who'd come to be part of the day, and were promised a milkshake on one of the hottest days of the year so far.
The dairy started just before lockdown in March last year and has since opened milk vending machines across the South West.
Rex Fisher is one of the staff there. He told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:
"We opened and then lockdown started. Luckily for us we sell all our milk out of vending machines, which is a contact free way of selling milk.
"So right at the beginning of lockdown when supermarkets were completely overwhelmed and shelves were empty, we were able to provide people with milk.
"We now have 16 machines across the South West, from as far as Corfe Castle to Honiton, and as far north as Taunton."
The cheese room is the next part of the business plan. They're planning to have their own brie by the end of July.
Yesterday's event was designed to show locals how well animals are treated at the farm.
West Dorset MP Chris Loder, who's family are beef farmers, said:
"It's really bringing good local milk to people in a really good affordable way. The work is really showing what can be done with agriculture, with care of animals, because they're wonderful here with how they're looking after their cows and calves, and also how it can be done in a properly environmentally friendly way, how of course we can bring that to the consumer and now they're clearly moving forward to producing cheese which is great news."
Chris added that the event goes a long way to show the public that high standards of farming can be, and are met:
"We all too often see portrayed in the press, that farmers don't take care of their animals, when fundamentally, I don't think that is the case.
"We're so delighted to be able to see how well these calves and cows are being looked after. Their coat is shiny and they're very friendly.
"And I'm very please to be able to share that message to the people of West Dorset and further afield that looking after animals, that produce that comes from it is just really, really good."