Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses new Parlick cheese brand gets listing at M&S Food

Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses has expanded its award-winning Parlick sheep’s cheese range with a new product, ‘Parlick Reserve’, launching in brand at M&S Food nationally on June 23rd.

Parlick Reserve (RRP £4.50/150g) is a rich, creamy sheep’s milk cheese that is matured for six months.

It takes its name from Lancashire’s Parlick Fell, which is just five miles from Butlers’ rural Lancashire dairy. 

Butlers is the largest producer of sheep’s milk cheese in the UK. 

On June 9, His Majesty The King met Gillian Hall, third-generation owner of Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses in Lancashire and shared his love of sheep’s cheese on a digestive biscuit.

The family cheesemakers have been handmaking specialist British hard, blue, and soft cheese from rural Lancashire since 1932. 

Matthew Hall, fourth-generation owner at Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses said: “Parlick Reserve is a natural next step for our Parlick range and really appeals to the M&S shopper, particularly with growing consumer demand for sheep’s milk cheese.

 “We love seeing partners like M&S embrace the breadth and quality of British cheeses, as well as the opportunity to breathe life into the fixture, driving shopper exploration and giving speciality cheeses like Parlick the prominence they deserve.”

As consumers have become more aware of cheese’s natural credentials like healthy fats, minimal processing and few ingredients, many are turning to sheep’s milk cheese as a nutrient-dense, high-protein, high-calcium option that offers both health benefits and a little indulgence.

Matthew added: “We have seen growing interest in our alternative milk cheese like Kidderton Ash goat’s cheese and also Parlick with its clean, fresh, nutty-sweet flavour. Their versatility mean they are becoming more everyday choices in the way cheddar has been historically. 

 “The market overall has contracted over the last two years due to a combination of general uncertainty and farmers exiting the sector, so we aim to bring stability through our retail partnerships, which, over the coming year, will see a 20 per cent growth in the UK sheep’s milk industry.”

 Parlick Reserve joins Parlick Original in the range, which is stocked at Sainsburys, Tesco and Morrisons stores across the UK.

Parlick Brie is stocked in Waitrose. The full Parlick range is available at Butlers’ online cheese store.

It comes after Lancashire Business View reported in March that Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses’ planning application to build a state-of-the-art cheesemaking campus was approved by Preston City Council.

It was 16 months after a devastating fire destroyed the Lancashire cheesemakers’ 65,000 square foot office and packing site in Longridge November 2023. 

Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses is an award-winning, fourth generation family cheesemaker established in 1932 in rural Lancashire. Butlers combine traditional skills, love and innovation to hand make specialist British hard, blue and soft cheeses with milk from its own herd of cows and goats

For more information visit www.butlerscheeses.co.uk.