In 2007, overwhelmed and disillusioned in the middle of the journey towards starting her own business, Julia Cammis’s husband suggested that they should take a relaxing walk by the Durham riverside. Here she would stumble upon an epiphany in the form of a statue of a cow – a symbol that would come to represent her product, now embraced by some of Durham’s finest food outlets and recognised as one of the region’s finest cheeses.
Julia’s pathway to this moment had begun 2 years earlier, whilst watching a TV feature on a female entrepreneur who had given up her job to begin a cheese making business. Inspired by this story, she began to evolve her own business ideas.
Julia Cammis said: “I researched and explored the industry for over 18 months, but as I was hampered by a lack of confidence, I kept the idea to myself the entire time, and as a result often found myself questioning my sanity!”
Realising that the business could never materialise this way, Julia found the courage to tell her husband about her ideas. Julia said: “He simply said ‘you go for it girl!’ Suddenly my fanciful ideas became an achievable reality.”
From this point on Julia began to discover the depth of what was actually involved in getting her business idea off the ground. Julia said: “The trick was to begin thinking in a 21st century way – farmers would have been the only people who could do this in the past, but that wasn’t the case anymore. I needed to put a new spin on an old product.”
Upon discovering that the local milk processors in her village of Hutton Henry would be prepared to sell her the milk that she would need, she enrolled upon the UK’s premier Cheesemaking course, with AB Cheesemaking in Cheshire, where she gained invaluable insight into production, as well as making industry contacts.
Julia said: “On the course I met a fellow female entrepreneur whose cheese business was already up and running in Cornwall. I later visited her to see how a small cheese production company operated in the real world, and learned how I could apply this to my own circumstances. I also received excellent advice from Margaret Ann Maxwell, the head cheese maker at Doddington’s Dairy in Northumberland.”
However, back in Durham, Julia’s list of things to do swelled to an unmanageable level in August 2007. It was at this moment of near despair that her Husband suggested that fateful walk along the river.
Julia said: “I was at a real low point, but when we saw the cow it sparked something, and reignited my faith in the fledgling business.”
Julia researched the story behind the cow, which is said to have lead Lindesfarne monks to the final resting place of St Cuthbert, which became the site where the majestic Durham Cathedral stands today. Inspired to link the story with her product, she was now able to tick off each task which had previously seemed insurmountable.
Julia said: “I embarked upon a Start Your Own Business course at the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC), which allowed me to develop marketing and the image of my product, and my husband converted the family garage into a custom made work space.”
Finding herself in possession of a 50-litre vat, she had everything in place to create her first batch of hand-made soft blue cheeses. For the next six weeks Julia experimented with the cheese searching for the right consistency, with neighbours and friends acting as taste-testers.
Julia said: “It was such a relief as everyone seemed to love the cheese. However, creating the same flavour on a consistent basis was the real challenge and this took time – I had to practice constantly, day and night.”
When she was happy with the overall taste and consistency of the cheese, and was given the go ahead from environmental health representatives, she was ready to take her hand-wrapped product to market, literally.
Julia said: “Durham Indoor Market had expressed an interest in the cheese early on, on the basis that Durham did not produce a blue cheese of any variety at that point. Therefore the outlet was the first that I approached when the cheese was ready for sale. I drove away nervously, conscious of the fact that this was the real test of the product.
“Three days later a call came from the market traders. The cheese had sold out, and customers were demanding more!”
The confidence Julia gained from this initial success led her to place the cheese in a number of outlets including Oldfields Restaurant and Grafton House Hotel in Durham, where it has continued to impress. At Durham Cathedral’s restaurant, the head chef was so impressed with the cheese that he has served it to celebrity guests including Bill Bryson.
Encouraged by her local success, Julia entered the World Cheese Awards in July, and despite trading for less than six weeks and being up against over 900 of the world’s best and most established cheese makers, she missed out on a bronze prize by only one point.
Julia said: “Feedback from the judges was excellent – they were particularly impressed with our texture & flavour, and pointed out how proud we should be of the result as the modern blue class was very tough this year.”
Willie Herdman, Special Projects Manager at the North East BIC, says: “Julia’s story is a truly inspirational one, and it is wonderful to see the business flourishing after the eventful development period, during which we assisted Julia in developing many of the company’s elements.
“At the driving centre of this story, we have a truly delicious blue cheese for the region, which I would encourage all cheese lovers to try!”
