Friday – Glyn Woolley, chairman of West Country specialist producer and exporter of high quality dairy produce Coombe Castle International, has received a lifetime achievement award from the British Cheese Board.
Nigel White, secretary of the British Cheese Board, presented the award to Mr Woolley at the Royal Bath and West Show in Somerset last week in recognition of the significant contribution the 68-year-old has made to the British cheese industry though his work over 38 years.
Responding to the honour, Mr Woolley said: “Coombe Castle has won many awards over the years but this one means more than anything else because it’s recognition by my friends and comrades in the industry of the ambassadorial role I’ve always tried to play for British cheese.”
Speaking about his passion for exporting British cheese, Mr Woolley added: “Having grown up on a farm in West Wales, I have always appreciated the hardships that farmers go through. That’s why nothing gives me greater pleasure in exporting than getting an order from Japan, Korea or the United States for a British West Country farmhouse cheese. The order might be small in the great scheme of things, but that farmer’s pride knowing his cheese is being bought overseas is immense.”
In addition to producing its own cream, Coombe Castle partners with British dairies to export their products to over 40 countries. Well-known brands exported by the company include cheeses such as Stinking Bishop and Colliers Welsh; a range of creams plus butter from Devon, Wales and goats’ butter.
Born in Lancashire and raised in West Wales, Mr Woolley began his career in the dairy industry in 1965 as a management trainee with Unigate. After moves to St Ivel and then Cow & Gate, where he learned about exporting dairy products, he founded Coombe Caste International in 1980 on his farm in Corsham, Wiltshire. The company took a major step forward in 1984 when it acquired the Double Devon Cream Company from Unigate.
The company recently secured a GBP£1 million investment from Barclays.
The award for Mr Woolley comes only two months after Coombe Castle won a Queen’s Award for International Trade, the company’s third since 2001.
Source: Coombe Castle International