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The
story of The Orkney Cheese Company really began with the setting up of
a new factory on July 1st, 1946 at a former RAF camp just outside of Kirkwall,
capital city of the Orkney Islands. At the end of World War Two the need
for milk supplies decreased sharply as the garrison was run down, resulting
in a large liquid milk surplus.
The assistance of the North of Scotland Milk Marketing Board was sought and the factory duly set up to turn the excess milk supplies into cheese for export. James Miller was the first manager of the new factory, and became widely known as 'Cheesy Miller'.
Cheese was produced in two vats, of 500 and 750 gallons each, with the curd being cut by hand before draining off the whey. The cheese is then 'cheddared' - which involves it being cut into pieces and stacked and turned at the bottom of the cheese vat for a period to produce the distinctive cheddar texture. In those days the storage area consisted of several Nissen huts, where the cheese was turned and matured and eventually graded by an inspector from the Ministry of Food.
The company joined the North of Scotland Milk Marketing Board (NoSMMB) in 1950, whilst ever increasing milk production made it difficult for the factory to cope and full capacity of 9,000 gallons a day was reached in 1958. Falling prices for cheese led to the concentration on butter and powdered milk. Butter produced at the factory soon gained recognition for its quality and 'Claymore' butter, as it was known, was highly commended in the salted butter class at the 1960 London Dairy Show. Since then it has won a great number of awards, including many first prizes.
Work had already begun in 1957 on a new factory on Deerness Road, Kirkwall, and it became known as the Claymore Creamery. Its most distinctive product was the Orkney 'round', a specially packaged round cheese introduced in 1963. Growing food mountain surpluses within Europe led to cheesemaking returning to prominence again and the focus turned to maximising efficiency through modern production techniques. Out went the milk churns and in came the cooled storage tanks, enabling farmers that had them to be paid a premium.
Another new product for emerging new markets was that of Orkney smoked cheese - a sign that consumers were becoming more sophisticated and adventurous. In 1973 the UK joined what is now the EC, and a process of harmonisation of food standards and hygiene began. Orkney became a brucellosis eradication area and in 1977 compulsory pasteurisation was proposed. By 1981 butter and skimmed milk powder production was in serious decline as mountains of excess food became a trademark of the EC's Common Agricultural Policy.
Old, outdated machinery was removed to make way for completely new cheese-making equipment, including two 15,000 gallon cheesemaking vats, controlled by the mighty microchip - as with all computer controlled processes this new setup took some time to bed in. In 1983 one of the factory's longest serving managers, Alastair Whyte, retired after 32 years service. The NoSMMB entered into an agreement with McLelland and Son to handle the sale and distribution of Orkney cheese, and this arrangement continues to this day.
It was all change in 2000 when Express Dairies bought Claymore Dairies and Orkney's milk producers, concerned with protecting and developing their industry, decided to form their own co-operative to control milk and cheese production - Orkney Cheese Company Ltd. With the old Claymore Creamery in Kirkwall reaching the end of its useful working life Orkney Cheese Company embarked on the construction of a new factory at the Hatston Industrial Estate in Kirkwall, which will allow for far more efficient production and packaging, incorporate capacity for the storage of 1500 tonnes of cheese and address the effluent problems associated with the whey by-product. Recently open, the factory is certainly state of the art and enjoys lovely views across Hatston Bay.
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© Orkney Cheese Company Ltd 2002