Family-owned Cumbrian dairy, Winter Tarn, has just launched a brand-new website and their first ever virtual shop in order to be able to meet demand from loyal customers up and down the country.
Prior to the pandemic Winter Tarn mainly sold their cheeses face to face, to customers at a number of farmer’s markets across the north of England including Altrincham. When the pandemic hit this inevitably had to stop with the imposition of social distancing measures. In response they began experimenting with selling their produce online through social media platforms. It quickly took off and the team soon realised they would need to develop a website. With the help of a 40% funding grant from Cumbria Chamber they set about creating an online shop and website with northwest based design agency Scratch Creative.
As many of Winter Tarn’s customers already know, the family are truly passionate about the award -winning salted and unsalted butters they craft.
The same is true of the cheeses they source to sell to their customers, which is why Jeremy and Harry Jackson have taken a great deal of time to carefully select every cheesemaker they work with, with each being chosen from among the UK’s very best artisan makers. This ensures the provenance of the products being sold and guarantees that their customers can rest assured that they will receive quality and consistency each and every time they order. Some of the 37-cheeses available from the Winter Tarn virtual shop include:
Auld Reekie made by Alex Reid in Royal Deeside, Scotland, Buffalo Blue made by made by Judy Bell and her two daughters Katie and Caroline at their farm near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, Cornish Yarg made by Catherine Mead at Lynher Dairies near Bodmin, Cornwall, Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Farmhouse, made by Graham Kirkham, at Bessley's Farm, Goosnargh, Lancashire and Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar, made by Ford Farm Cheesemakers on the Ashley Chase Estate, Dorset.
With a well-designed and easy to navigate online shop in operation, created by local web design agency Scratch Creative, the team at the Cumbrian dairy is looking forward to dealing with customers from far and wide who want to be able to order quality butter and cheese and have it delivered directly to their door.
As the virtual shop develops in the coming months it will also sell a range of other dairy related products, including a selection of biscuits and crackers for cheese, a range of chutneys and a selection of carefully curated condiments.
Harry Jackson from Winter Tarn Dairy commented:
"During the first lockdown we started selling our cheeses and butters online through several social media platforms and up until that point we hadn’t given much thought to creating an online shop. We quickly realised that creating an easy-to-use virtual shop was essential, especially as we now get orders from across the UK."
Adding:
"Working with Cumbrian web design company Scratch Creative and local photographer Nina Claridge we’ve been able to create an additional shop window for what we do. The new website is really user friendly from a customer point of view and from our point of view it allows us to continue to develop and grow our online presence as we add to our product range."
Cheeses are available to order in a variety of sizes, including 250g, 500g or 1kg blocks or in individual rounds depending on the nature of the cheese. Orders can be placed by visiting: https://wintertarndairy.co.uk