Cheese supplier Carron Lodge is to become a major producer of Continental-style soft cheeses, after investing around £1m at the former Singletons dairy in Lancashire.
The company, which is best known as a wholesaler but also makes cheese, acquired the dairy in Longridge as part of a deal to buy Singletons and its brands out of administration in 2023. Production of Grandma Singleton’s Lancashire has since been moved to Carron Lodge’s Park Head Farm production site in Inglewhite, while Longridge has been transformed into a hub for soft cheeses.
It has capacity to process 100,000 litres of milk, equivalent to 8-10 tonnes of cheese, a week.
Fresh goats’ curd logs under the Ribblesdale brand, including Plain, Ashed and Honey & Flower, are already being made at the site with plans to roll out several new cheeses in the coming months including aged goats’ cheeses, plus triple cream and Camembert-style cheeses made with cows’ milk.
“Honey and Flower is the most successful product launch we’ve ever done,” said director Tom Rhodes. “After we bought Singletons we sat down and looked at where British cheese was heading and while we remain committed to traditional British cheeses, it’s clear the market is evolving. Soft cheeses like burrata and goats’ curd are being used as ingredients in starters and mains, as well as in sharing dishes with wine.”
Around 2-3 tonnes of the weekly production at the new site is expected to go into retail with the rest earmarked for foodservice and manufacturing. “We are fully committed to the wonderful cheesemakers we already work with in our wholesale business, but we can see there is demand for more British soft cheeses,” said Rhodes. “Our aim is to complement the cheeses we already sell, rather than replace.”
Carron Lodge has its own herds of cows and buffalo at Park Head Farm, where it makes territorial cheeses. As well as taking over Singletons, it has also acquired Ribblesdale Cheese Co and the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Co in recent years.
The company has secured planning permission to expand the Cheddar Gorge dairy and visitor centre in Somerset as part of plans to increase production and footfall. “Cheddar Gorge is the only cheddar still made in Cheddar. It has huge potential,” said Rhodes.
This article first appeared in the June-July 2025 issue of Fine Food Digest.
