Grins as Shropshire cheese firm sees yoghurt success
A dairy operation in Shropshire renowned for its cheeses is making the most of its cows' milk by branching out into specialist yoghurts.
Staff at the dairy kitchen at Ludlow Food Centre found that their cows produced a big surplus of milk and so head cheesemaker Dudley Martin had an idea.
Dudley began experimenting with products other than cheese to make from the milk and a cultured creation has proved the biggest winner.
He said: "Our cows produce far more than we are able to use and I have always been thinking of new products that utilise more of their milk.
"We started by using the buttermilk left over from our butter to make a milkshake, which has proved popular, but the latest and most successful diversification has been yoghurt."
Dudley is currently making six different flavours of yoghurt, including a locally flavoured Shropshire Prune Damson and a more exotic Alphonso Mango.
The yoghurt is made with a traditional culture that Dudley introduces to sour the milk and flavour the yoghurt.
He said: "We were buying yoghurt for the shop from a number of suppliers and it has always sold well so I thought it was about time we tried it ourselves.
"Our philosophy at the food centre is, if we can make it we should.
"We introduced our own and it immediately sold better than the bought-in stuff so we have started delisting the other varieties and introducing more flavours."
The soft fruit season is starting so Dudley plans to introduce a variety of fresh fruit flavours and has also just released a range of yoghurt dips, including a roasted garlic and a spicy chilli.
It doesn't stop there because Dudley has also made his own panna cotta and will shortly be releasing a variety of cheesecakes,
The food centre uses milk from its own cows reared on the Earl of Plymouth's Oakly Park Estate just outside Ludlow.
Its cheese selection includes the only Shropshire Blue made in the county, called Ludlow Blue, which has won a host of awards, including coveted British and World Cheese Awards.
"There is so much we can do with our milk and I am in the enviable position of being able to experiment and develop new products at the food centre," said Dudley.
"Soon there will be further ice cream flavours and we are looking at flavoured butters too."
