West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers

Brian and Christine Baker run the business with their son Neil who maintains the family tradition of creating superb West Country Farmhouse Cheddar near Crewkerne in the heart of Somerset.

We currently produce around 250 tonnes of West Country block farmhouse Cheddar and farmhouse butter using the milk produced by our herd of 1000 cows, grazed over 1500 acres. All the cows are managed to ensure the very highest health and welfare standards are maintained to produce their milk to the best quality. The cows are milked through a eighty stall rotary parlour so that they are milked and returned to pasture in good time.

Our cheesemaker of 30 years, Philip Keys, along with 3 other staff members make the cheese using traditional methods to produce a uniquely flavoured and textured handmade Cheddar which reaches its best when aged 12 months. Our cheeses are stored in batches of 60 in special “Kingston Kasks” unique to Bakers.

Our overall business plan is to do everything we can to produce both milk and handmade cheese of the very highest quality. Around 1/3 of our milk is processed on farm into vintage handmade cheese.

We have expanded our herd to its current size of around 1000 over the last 5 years. We are currently expanding again with an aim to reach an adult herd size of around 1100 by the autumn.

Neil Baker

Farm Manager
Bakers of Haselbury Plucknett