Fen Farm Dairy

PRODUCER: Fen Farm Dairy, Suffolk
PRODUCTS: Baron Bigod Brie and Bungay Butter
REGION: Eastern England
CATEGORY: From the Dairy (Artisan)

WHAT THEY DO

In their own words, Fen Farm Dairy is proud to be “pushing to boundaries and setting the standard for raw dairy products in the UK”.

Fen Farm Dairy was established in 2013, when Johnny and Dulcie Crickmore decided to begin milking French Montbéliarde dairy cows on the family farm. The breed is renowned for its milk, which has a high protein content, making it ideal for cheese making.

Fen Farm is the first farmhouse cheese maker in the UK to produce English a raw-milk Brie-de-Meaux style cheese, Baron Bigod, and raw cultured farmhouse butter. Dedicated to promoting consumption of raw milk, the family have also been the first to install a raw milk vending machine on site, and now help install similar devices on dairy farms across the UK.

The family team stress the importance of dairy farms being environmentally aware. A solar panel system capable of powering the whole farm has recently been installed, while natural warmth from the cows’ fresh milk is harnessed to heat water for cleaning. The Montbéliarde breed are productive on a diet of grass and home-grown hay and forage, so there’s no need for energy-intensive arable feed.

Currently the farm cannot process all of their raw milk, and it is the family’s goal for the future to transform all their milk produce into dairy products on site.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Fen Farm’s presentation, vision and commitment earned them a double shortlisting for their Baron Bigod cheese and their Bungay Butter. 

VISIT THE WEBSITE:  fenfarmdairy.co.uk