Now entering its final commissioning stage, the funds will go towards the installation of specialist cottage cheese manufacturing equipment at Rodda’s plant in Scorrier, Cornwall.
Once operational, the site will be among just a handful of dedicated cottage cheese manufacturing facilities in the UK.
At full capacity, the dairy producer will be pumping out 4,000 tonnes of cottage cheese a year; with 20 new jobs up for grabs.
Manufacturing cottage cheese on site will also introduce sustainability benefits. Each year, the business handles around 61 million litres of milk. Previously, just 7% has been used for its flagship clotted cream, with skimmed milk largely sold back into the commodity market.
By manufacturing cottage cheese on site, Rodda’s will now able to make use of much more of its surplus skimmed milk itself.
The project will introduce new processes and automation technology to the Scorrier site, too. This will build on recent investments Rodda’s has made in advanced production machinery across its business, aimed at improving efficiency, consistency and technical capability.
Commenting, Nicholas Rodda, managing director of Rodda’s said the investment supports the firm’s "long‑term ambition to run a more efficient manufacturing business" in Cornwall, with its “journey increasingly guided by circular‑economy principles".
He added: “This more efficient use of our milk intake will not only support farmgate returns, but also provide more predictable demand for farming families in the Rodda’s supply chain, and strengthen domestic food production resilience.”
Cottage cheese crazy
Demand for cottage cheese has skyrocketed as high-protein, natural foods continue to prove popular.
The commodity has been showing consistent demand since the 70s, with sales traditionally rising in the January due to post-festive diets, as well as the summer months.
However, more recently there has been a serious spike, predominately driven by social media influencers posting healthy cottage-cheese-based recipes.
Cottage cheese is one of the fastest‑growing dairy categories in the UK, and this facility allows us to respond to that demand while getting more value from every litre of milk we buy from our farming families.
Nicholas Rodda, managing director, Rodda’s
Market data by Worldpanel by Numerator for the 52 weeks ending 28 December 2025 shows that in the UK the total market spend for the cheese rose by 41.9% to £102.2 million, while purchase volume increased 28.1% to 25.6 million kilograms.
Earlier this year, Tesco reported it has seen record demand for cottage cheese. Over the last two years, it says it has risen by 200% - prompting the supermarket to up both its suppliers and range of cottage products.
The production of cottage cheese at the new Rodda’s facility is due to begin this summer. Operations at Rodda’s Creamery in Scorrier - which produces clotted cream, butter and speciality milk - will continue as normal.
