(Sussex)
Produce:
Cheese
Mark Hardy, co-owner of High Weald Dairy, got into the cheese world almost by accident. After attending agricultural university, he saw a saturated market for cow’s milk and took a different path- setting up one of the UK’s first sheep’s milk cheese ventures. At the time, sheep’s cheese was rare in the UK, but Mark saw its potential. “Sheep’s milk is the best milk to make cheese from,” he says. “It’s high-yielding and fun to work with.” It also offers a great alternative milk to people who are lactose intolerant.
The journey began in Duddleswell, in the Ashdown Forest, the original home of their sheep’s cheese. In 2003, the business moved to its current location, Tremains Farm in Horsted Keynes- a 270-acre property- expanding their herd and production. Although they stopped milking cows four years ago, they now produce 15–16 different organic cheeses: 8-10 from cow’s milk, 6 from sheep, and 1 from goat. Their first cheese was a halloumi, popular with the local Turkish and Cypriot communities in North London, though not always the pricing.
Sustainability is at the heart of the farm. With 70kW of solar panels across roofs and fields, around 60–70% of their electricity is solar-powered. A log burner, fed two to three times daily with wood from their own woodland, provides hot water and heating. Even the cheese smoking process is hands-on, oak shavings create a rich coal smoke flavour in a custom smoking room.
As organic cheese makers, Mark and his team are passionate about producing mild, approachable cheeses—especially their English goat cheese, which is suitable even for pregnant women.