Neal's Yard Dairy is a London artisanal cheese retailer and (formerly) cheesemaker, described as "London's foremost cheese store."[1] The store is considered as a forerunner of the British wholefood movement and an important part of the revival of London's Covent Garden district.
Founded in 1979 by Nick Saunders and Randolph Hodgson as a cheesemaker's shop, one of their first customers was Monty Python's John Cleese. Unfortunately, the new owners were still learning how to make cheese, and "had only managed yoghurt that day, so it all rather descended into a Monty Python sketch".[2]
Despite this rocky start, the store grew from a cheesemaker into a retailer of artisanal, mostly British and Irish cheeses (including farmhouse Cheddar cheese and varieties such as Stinking Bishop), spinning off the cheesemaking operation as Neal's Yard Creamery in Herefordshire. The company now sells about 500 tonnes of cheese a year through its store in Shorts Gardens (near Seven Dials), its shop in South London's Borough Market, and through its exports worldwide, especially the United States.