Yoghurt | Marybelle Dairy
7
It might be the one of the simplest products in the whole of Great Taste but that’s what makes Marybelle’s yoghurt so special
in Suffolk for five generations but the fall in milk prices a decade ago led to a tough decision: either buy more cows, sell up or diversify. The family decided they wanted to keep the farm going and the latter was the best option. Eight years ago, they started making yoghurt to a recipe they found in their mother’s old agricultural college notebook. Marybelle’s milk – named after two of the most distinguished cows to have graced the herd – is sourced from their own pampered Holsteins as well as herds from other selected farms in the region. They also use some Jersey milk in the yoghurt, Katherine says, as it’s good to have a mix for the right fat and protein balance. “Mass-produced yoghurt often needs additives of some sort to thicken it, but our
GREAT TASTE 2013-14
“Mass-produced yoghurt often needs additives of some sort to thicken it, but our milk is so good it is just naturally thick.” milk is so good it is just naturally thick”, she adds. The commercial need for lengthy shelf life also leads to over-treatment when yoghurt is made on a large scale. Among the other components of Marybelle’s yoghurt formula are batch production, the short distance the milk travels (avoiding ‘bruising’), and the use of a pump, rather than gravity, to move it. Winning the Supreme Champion title has helped Marybelle improve the branding of its range of yoghurts and crème fraîche, amongst other things, with a new label that is bright and eye-catching. But what’s inside those pots is still the same and the key message remains: keep it simple, but do it well. www.marybelle.co.uk
www.greattasteawards.co.uk
LONDON EAST ANGLIA & SOUT & THE EAST MIDLANDS ENGLAND
Yoghurt the love