Durham Cow Cheese Company reaches final of Tesco competition

Jun 3 2009 by Jane Hall, The Journal

FLEDGLING businesswoman Julia Cammiss is set to take her place alongside some of Britain’s biggest cheeses after reaching the finals of a national competition.

And the 48-year-old, who only left life as an office worker behind a year ago to follow her dream of launching a kitchen-table business, plans to milk the opportunity for all it is worth.

Now Julia is in the running for a top award at this year’s Tesco Cheese Challenge.

Her home-made Durham Cow blue cheese has been chosen to compete against some of the country’s best-known brands in the annual competition run by the supermarket chain.

The mother of one admits to being shocked on hearing her soft and creamy cheese had made it to the final of the Tesco challenge. But now she hopes it will not only open the way for the Durham Cow Cheese Company to gain national recognition, but help put her quiet corner of the North East firmly on every food lover’s map.

Last night Julia said: “I’m still stunned. It’s hard to believe. I make my cheese in a kitchen environment and I find myself in the final with some of the nation’s biggest cheese-makers.”

Julia and husband Barrie, 54, a construction worker, will now head to Chelsea’s swanky Bluebird Restaurant on June 11 for the final judging of the Tesco Cheese Challenge. Now in it sixth year, the Tesco initiative is dedicated to finding great new British cheeses. At stake is the once-in-a-lifetime chance of Tesco exclusively stocking the winning cheese for 18 weeks from this autumn.

Past winners – who include the Cornish Cheese Company and Butlers Farmhouse Cheese – have seen their businesses grow dramatically. Julia, who is on the hunt for bigger premises, said: “We are still very much a cottage industry. Durham Cow is a genuine hand-made cheese, but people are starting to take notice now and recognise I’m not a lunatic and that I do know what I’m doing.”

This is not the first time that Julia, who lives in Hutton Henry near Hartlepool, has caused a stir in the world of cheese-making. Last year after trading as the Durham Cow Cheese Company for just six weeks, she came within one point of winning a bronze prize in the British Cheese Awards.