Saputo Dairy UK gets grant to boost Cheddar production

The LEP’s grant from the Government’s Getting Building Fund is supporting the expansion of the Saputo Dairy UK creamery in Davidstow to increase production of Cheddar and ingredients for infant formula.

Davidstow employs more than 200 people and is home to the Cathedral City Cheddar brand, which has annual sales of more than £300m ($418m).

The cheese is made from local milk, and directly supports around 330 dairy farmers across Cornwall and the South West.

Last year, the business started selling Cathedral City to the Canadian and US markets for the first time.

The LEP’s investment in plant and machinery at Davidstow will help increase capacity for cheese production and by-products like demineralized whey, and reduce the environmental footprint of the creamery, including CO₂​ reductions.

LEP director Clare Parnell, who chairs the LEP’s Rural Group and is a farmer in North Cornwall, said, “The Davidstow creamery is a major local employer whose supply chain extends across Cornwall and the wider region. The LEP’s investment, secured from the Getting Building Fund, is having an immediate impact by boosting capacity and improving the efficiency of the plant as the business looks to further growth.”​

The LEP successfully bid for £14.3m ($20m) of Getting Building Fund investment last summer following a Government call for ‘shovel-ready’ projects that could create jobs and support post-Covid-19 economic recovery across the country.

The LEP is backing six other Getting Building Fund projects in Cornwall with a total value of £58m ($80.8m), supporting around 1,100 jobs.