A Member of Parliament in the East Midlands is urging Britons to “champion and be proud” of a locally produced cheese as one of the few remaining factories making stilton faces closure.
Edward Argar, MP for Melton and Syston has been liaising with Danish food giant Arla since June when the company announced a proposal to “cease production” at its site in Melton Mowbray.
Tuxford and Tebbutt, which started making the salty blue cheese in 1780, employs almost 60 people in the Leicestershire town, bringing the future of their jobs into question.
The closure would cut the number of stilton cheesemakers down to a mere four.
Edward Argar MP for Melton and Syston said “The key priority must be to support the people affected by Arla’s announcement, the employees.”
“I’ve been in touch with Arla to talk about what the options are for someone to purchase the brand for Tuxford and Tebbutt to see if they can produce again here.”
Tuxford and Tebbutt, which started making the salty blue cheese in 1780, employs almost 60 people in the Leicestershire town
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“It’s not just the factory, it’s the supply chain,” said the Conservative MP.
“There will be knock on effects.”
He added: “We’ve got to champion it and recognise there are other amazing producers out there and be proud of this iconic British product.”
Tuxford and Tebbutt is the only Stilton cheesemaker in the town where generations of families have been producing it for hundreds of years.
A spokesperson at Arla said: “Arla Foods has announced its proposal to cease production at Arla Melton Mowbray Creamery UK.
“We have spoken to our colleagues who are affected by these proposals and we are now entering in to a period of consultation with those colleagues.
Bill Mathieson, Managing Director of Long Clawson Dairy, said he remained positive about the future
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“Our priority right now is to support our colleagues impacted during this challenging period.”
Because of the Protected Designation of Origin status, Stilton can only be made to strict recipe within the three East Midlands counties: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire.
The same protections apply to champagne in France or parma ham in Italy.
Wider issues like wage inflation are putting pressure on parts of the industry as customers buy less frequently amidst the higher cost of living.
Since 2016, 1400tn of stilton has dropped out of the market, equivalent to 15 per cent of production. In that time, the number of cheesemakers has halved.
However, industry leaders Long Clawson Dairy is finding success despite difficulties elsewhere.
Bill Mathieson, Managing Director of Long Clawson Dairy said “We’re very positive about Stilton and the future. We just had our biggest ever Christmas.”
“On an industry level,” he continued. “What we’ve been seeing is a decline where sales have gone down.”
He added that in the event of Tuxford and Tebbutt’s closure, Clawson would try to “retain expertise” with positions for staff losing jobs.
Clawson’s Blue Stilton was judged to be Supreme Champion at the International Cheese and Dairy Awards 2024, beating thousands of other entries.
Cheesemakers are trying to diversify the product’s use outside of traditional cheeseboards with ready meals, sauces, and snacks.
“We have to inspire people to use Stilton in a different way,” said Bill.