Somerset, UK 19^th October, 2011: Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producer and milk processor, have launched its Christmas advertising campaign to reach over three million consumers in the UK. The Somerset based company will use print advertising to continue to tell the story of its extensive150year heritage.

The coming months will see the brand further invest into mass media promotional activity with adverts in the following consumer titles: BBC Good Food, Readers Digest, Woman and Home, Waitrose Kitchen, Red, OK!, Hello and Good Housekeeping. The print advert shares the story of Wyke Farms cheddar in Somerset and the importance of family in the creation of the UK’s favourite Farmhouse Cheddar.

Richard Clothier, third generation family member & Managing Director, Wyke Farms said: “This year has marked a major milestone for my family and Wyke Farms – 150 years producing Cheddar from my Grandmother’s original recipe. We have always taken pride on being the UK’s favourite farmhouse cheddar and we are making significant investments into connecting with our consumers and continuing the excellence they deserve. We feel this press campaign resonates our provenance and family farming in the Somerset countryside roots.”

Wyke Farms have 150 years of family farming experience. Its cheese and butter is made with the milk from their cows grazing the lush pastures of the Mendip Hills in the centre of the Cheddar making region in Somerset.  This is reflected in the design of the adverts and the new packaging.

Wyke Farms cheese and butter is made with the milk from their cows grazing the lush pastures of the Mendip Hills in the centre of the Cheddar making region in Somerset. Wyke Farms cheese and butter products are available nationwide and can be found in Asda, Co-op, Makro, Morrisons, Tesco and Waitrose.

Somerset – January 18^th 2011 – Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest independent cheese producer and milk processor, today revealed the latest brand performance figures from Kantar 12 weeks to 26th December 10. The data confirms a 26% rise compared to the same period last year and pushes the brand ahead of McLelland Seriously Strong for the first time during this Christmas period.

During the reporting period Wyke Farms featured on the Asda’s Extra Special Christmas TV campaign where they profiled their Somerset Vintage Cheddar.  The successful campaign resulted in a ten-fold increase in sales of Wyke Farm Cheddar with an extra 50,000 Extra Special cheeseboards purchased over the Christmas period.

“This is a great start to 2011, the pleasing thing is that we really didn’t have any big promotions on during the period, so this uplift was purely from base sales” said Richard Clothier, third generation family member & Managing Director, Wyke Farms who continues “The recent investment in our super-efficient high speed packing lines ensured that we were able to supply customers even with the snow interruptions without problems”.

Wyke Farms is a family run company based in Somerset and are the only independent dairy company within the top 10 cheddar brands in the UK.  The company has been making cheddar to the same family recipe since 1861 and have achieved substantial growth year on year by staying true to the traditional values behind the brand.

Wyke Farms cheese and butter products are available nationwide and can be found in Asda, Co-op, Makro, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose.

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For over one hundred years the special Christmas line of premium vintage cheddar has been reserved for family and close friends during the holiday season. This year however, the special Christmas cheese; a specially selected line of the Wyke Farms Ivy’s Vintage Reserve, is also available to the public for the month of December.

Ivy’s family founded Wyke Farms in the 1900s and now, three generations later, the Clothier family continues to use her celebrated 100-year-old recipe for turning their fresh milk into award-winning cheese with perfect texture and exquisite taste. Fresh milk is collected daily from Wyke’s local farms, where the cows are grazing the lush pastures in the heart of Somerset, the milk is then made into cheddar at the dairy near Bruton.

The Ivy’s Vintage Reserve Cheddar then goes through a careful maturation period, for no fewer than 15 months, under the watchful eye of the head cheese maker.  The traditional art of cheese making is maintained at Wyke Farms as the skilled cheese maker carefully brings all of the ingredients from the lush pastures of the Mendip Hills into full development of taste and texture.

“The Christmas line of Cheddar is our premium vintage at its best” Commented Richard Clothier, third generation family member and Managing Director. He continues “It’s been a tradition to save this for family and friends for over 100 years but this year we want to share it out with those who have the same passion for cheddar as we do”

The 100 years of tradition at Wyke Farms are now matched by over 100 trophies, awards and prizes won by the company at national cheese shows.  From an original 3000 plus, Wyke Farms is now one of less that 20 farmhouse cheese makers remaining in the West Country and today its mild, mature, extra mature and vintage cheddars are sold throughout Europe in over 25,000 retailers.

Wyke Farms has been producing award-winning cheddar for over a century and has grown to become the largest family-owned cheese maker in Britain selling over 12,000 tonnes annually. The company have achieved substantial growth year on year by staying true to the traditional values behind the brand and have become the fastest growing cheddar brand at a rate of 82% year on year.

Wyke Farms cheese and butter products are available nationwide and can be found in Asda, Co-op, Makro, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose.  The limited edition Christmas cheddar is available from Asda stores and priced at £5.00 for a 600g block.