First Milk taps heritage with new cheese range
days, as one of the UK's leading cheese producers aims to tap
growing Scottish pride with its latest cheddar range.
First Milk's Scottish Pride cheese brand claims to be sourced 100 per cent from creameries in the country, demonstrating its commitment to local dairy production. The move highlights the growing significance to dairy producers of targeting specific national and regional markets in order to boost consumer appeal of their products. In Scotland alone, the market value for branded cheddar is estimated at about €40m, according to figures by TNS. First Milk's marketing director Richard Hollingdale expects the launch to be an important step in tapping demand within the country. "Scottish provenance is particularly important to Scottish consumers who, where they can, like to buy local produce and we guarantee that Scottish Pride cheddar will be produced using only Scottish milk," he stated. Scottish Pride will join the group's portfolio of geographically themed cheese recipes which include the Isle of Arran and Mull of Kintyre brands, which are produced from traditional recipes unique to each area. The company claims it is now the largest UK-based producer of cheese operating in the country with a 35 per cent share of the Cheddar , following its acquisition of Dairy Crest's private label cheese business in October last year.
