Staff at Isle of Man Creamery have successfully completed a membership course with The Guild of Cheese Graders. Guild founder, Bruce MacDonald visited the Island to run the two day seminar for ten members of the management and cheese production teams. Bruce is a cheese grader with 30 years’ experience, and is the current Chairman of the International Cheese Awards and Compagnon d’Honneur at the prestigious Guilde Internationale des Fromagers.
Cheese grading is a highly skilled activity which allows us to correctly assess when a cheese has the right flavour, texture and age to be released, packaged and sent out to our customers.
The team took part in a sensory screening session in which their levels of taste recognition were assessed, helping to understand the palate and their ability to discern different flavours. The course also covered areas around the language of cheese grading, cheese functionality (what makes a cheese good for cooking, slicing or crumbling) and how to identify defects in the cheese.
Isle of Man Creamery Managing Director Findlay Macleod said: ‘Continuous improvement is an essential part of our business strategy and although we have been making cheese for a very long time, it is vital that we keep up to date with new techniques. There is always something new to learn, even for our Production Manager who has been with us for 38 years!’
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