A Fife farmer has become the first Scottish producer of buffalo mozzarella following years of work to realise his ambition.
Farmer and star of the BBC’s This Farming Life, Steve Mitchell, has been given the green light to start full production.
It follows rigorous tests that food products need to adhere to, particularly for dairy products.
Steve established the business in 2005, on Buffalo Farm in Kirkcadly, with his small herd of water buffalo.
His dream was further fuelled with the visit of Gordon Ramsay several years back, where they made a trial batch of Buffalo mozzarella.
At that point, Gordon said he wanted to invest if he was to produce the cheese.
But Steve thought his dream was over when a major investor pulled out at the last minute – leaving him with no option but to sell a large part of his herd.
He decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign just under two years ago, where he successfully raised £800,000 from donors across the UK.
Steve has been able to build his custom-designed dairy parlour and mozzarella production facility, where production is now underway.
“We are now embarking on the most exciting and the most terrifying part of the project," he said.
"We now have to live up to the targets and expectations we have set ourselves and discover whether the market enjoys our Scottish buffalo mozzarella as much as we do.”
The Buffalo Farm has already ready received interest from retailers, restaurants and wholesalers who are keen to take the new product.
Steve is working with his team to support the continued growth of the product without compromising the quality.
He said: “I would much rather produce small batches of world-class cheese than compromise what we have.
"We have been given the opportunity to create something quite special and the team is determined to make Scotland a force to be reckoned with in the world buffalo mozzarella market.”
