Cheese is still made by hand at Sue Jones' Carmarthenshire farm
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A businesswoman who helped put Welsh cheese on the menu has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Twenty years ago Sue Jones began making cheese after she read that milk from a rare cow herd she kept at her Whitland farm was ideal for dairy products.
Now her business, Llanboidy Cheese, exports to the US and Holland and fills shelves in delicatessens in the UK.
Mrs Jones, who helped found the Welsh cheesemaking co-operative, said she was "utterly overwhelmed" by the award.
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We still make it by hand, it is pressed in the old-fashioned way and then matured on wooden shelves
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"When we set-up 20 years ago we wanted to add value to the farms output," she explained.
"We had a small herd of red poll cows and I read in a book written in 1840 that their milk was very good for making cheese because it had such a strong natural flavour."
With her sister Alison she set about making cheese using traditional hand-made methods that are still used today.
"Right from the start we never wanted to compete with the big boys because we wanted something that special and unique with a strong Welsh identity.
"We still make it by hand, it is pressed in the old-fashioned way and then matured on wooden shelves."
Artisans
In the early years Mrs Jones said she was one of just a handful of producers in Wales, but now there are small businesses making all types of cheese.
"We now have around 30 small cheesemakers in Wales. Most are artisan-type people doing this and making a name for Welsh cheese."
As well as a leading figure in the co-operative she sits on the Welsh assembly's dairy committee and is part of the food marketing group.
"The way forward is developing co-operatives and working together because marketing and exporting is so expensive if you are on your own," she added.
"The award still has not sunk in at all - I'm totally and utterly overwhelmed by it but I'm pleased it's for Welsh cheese."
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