TRIPLE GOLD FOR DODDINGTON CHEESES (August 2007)

A north Northumberland cheesemaker who entered the famous Nantwich International Cheese Show for the first time, has staggered the dairy industry by winning three gold awards and a silver for her entries, including picking up the Sainsbury Trophy for the best new dairy product to be launched commercially in the UK in the past year.

Margaret-Ann Maxwell, who runs the cheese section of the Doddington Dairy business based on the family farm near Wooler, said she was “absolutely gobsmacked” at her success, achieved against some of the finest cheesemakers in the world.

Maggie, as she is popularly known, has been making cheese for the past 17 years – commercially for 10 – and was only persuaded to enter the Nantwich International by her brother, Neill, who, with his wife Jackie, has turned Doddington Ice Cream into one of the best-known brands in the North.

But Doddington Cheese was the first dairy product to be developed at North Doddington Farm. Neill and Maggie spent time learning the craft from cheesemakers in the Netherlands, France and on various courses in the UK.

All the Doddington cheeses are made from unpasteurised, or raw, milk and it is one of Maggie’s latest cheeses, named after the North East hero Admiral Collingwood, that carried of the top prize at Nantwich for the best new dairy product of the year.

Admiral Collingwood, which was launched in June this year together with another of Maggie’s creations, The Baltic, is one of the region’s first semi-soft cheeses. It is full flavoured with a complex aroma and given a distinctive edge from being washed in Newcastle Brown Ale, according to its maker.

Maggie is equally thrilled by the success achieved by Doddington’s other, longer-established brands, namely, Doddington which was adjudged best in the single speciality, hard-pressed category and Cuddy’s Cave, which won the small producers’ hard cheese section. The smoked version of Cuddy’s Cave also won a silver.

Doddington Dairy Limited has been a member of Northumbria Larder, which leads the North East Regional Food Group, since its earliest days. Sandy Duncan, general manager of Northumbria Larder, said that what Maggie had achieved was almost unheard of in the dairy industry. “It is a great tribute to her dedication and hard work over the years and a terrific boost for other food producers in the region,”she said.