Sharpham Cheese has been making cheese in the Dart Valley, Devon, for more than 40 years. The artisan cheesemaker uses local milk to produce its products which include Clothbound Cheddar, goat’s cheese, brie, and Devon’s Blue.
Following decades of growth and ‘fairly plain sailing’, the business took a big hit from Covid just a year after current proprietors Greg and Nicky Parsons took ownership. This led to plummeting sales and losing their planned new dairy home on the Dartington Estate.
The company has since bounced back; in April 2022 achieving B Corp status, and in 2024, its move into a larger premises near Totnes following increased demand. But the duo has said more support is needed in order to fulfil its grand plans.
It has now launched a crowdfunder with a £65,000 target. The money will be used to switch the dairy to solar power (£30,000), implement water recycling (£25,000) to minimise waste and maximise efficiency, and upgrade to highly efficient cheese making equipment (£20,000) to further improve productivity and efficiency.
The crowdfunding lots on offer range from £20 to £2,000 and include naming one of the dairy’s cheese or milk tanks to a lifelong cheese discount and a Sharpham cheese and wine tasting hosted by co-owner Greg Parsons and The Telegraph’s drinks writer Susy Atkins.
So far, the campaign has raised just 1% of its target (£1,290) with 23 days left to offer support.*
Commenting, Parsons said: “We know we’re not the only ones passionate about high-quality, sustainable food. If people believe in supporting small, independent food producers, then this is their chance to make a difference and help shape the future of British artisan cheesemaking.”
*Accurate at the time of writing
