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Swaledale cheeses have returned to UK shelves following a national shortage of the product.

The Swaledale Cheese Company – based in the Yorkshire Dales – had to bring a temporary halt to its cheese making in December of last year when an expansion vessel in the water system burst and flooded their market town premises.

Hundreds of kilos of cheeses were damaged when the water – which brought about major structural damage – cut off the electricity supply causing temperature fluctuations in the main storage areas. Most of the cheese had to be thrown away leaving the company not only with a huge clean up operation but also vastly depleted stocks.

Mandy Reed, who set up the family business 21 years ago with her late husband, David, explains why this led to a four month shortage of the popular Swaledale Cheese. “All of our cheeses are made by hand and each variety needs carefully controlled temperatures, humidity levels and maturation times of around two months. This process cannot be rushed so there is an unavoidable time delay between making the cheese and having it ready to eat.

“We have worked around the clock to get to the point where we are ready to release our first cheeses back on the market,” she added.

The recent shortage of cheese had been exacerbated by the product’s increasing popularity, with demand regularly outstripping supply. Last year, the Swaledale Cheese Company made a £250,000 investment, enabling it to double its production facilities. However, the company still firmly resists any move towards mass production.

“We are a small, family run business and are keen to keep it that way. All of our cheeses are handmade using traditional methods and each part of the process – from sourcing the milk from local farms to hand waxing the individual cheeses – is done with the utmost care and attention,” said Reed.