Responsive technical capacity
Extra capacity when technical enquiries land. Forward me the customer questions, forms and follow-up work, and I can take care of the detail needed to get them answered.
Cheese ConsultancyTechnical support and compliance for artisan cheesemakers.
Experienced, practical help with the technical work around your cheese, shaped to fit a small business rather than overwhelm it.
Sound technical work should protect what makes an artisan cheese distinctive, not bury it beneath paperwork.
Specialist support,
without a full-time department.
Compliance support
Clear, proportionate preparation for SALSA and other audits, including gap analysis and GMP audits, customer requests, non-conformances and the demands that arrive after them.
Technical systems
Practical help with HACCP, specifications, procedures, allergen labelling and legal labelling checks: the technical paperwork that keeps a small dairy moving.
Cheese expertise
Specialist assessment rooted in a deep knowledge of artisan cheese, its makers, handling, maturation and quality.
Support can include internal audits, specifications, HACCP, VACCP and TACCP documentation, responses to auditors or customers, corrective actions, visit follow-ups, quality assessment and an experienced second opinion when something simply does not look right.
Flexible by design
Support shaped around the work you actually need.
A technical specialist who understands and loves artisan cheese.
I'm Martin Knapp. I have spent over two decades working in the artisan cheese world, as a cheesemonger, retail manager, cheesemaker, technical manager and cheese specialist.
That combination matters. I understand the systems, evidence and discipline behind good food-safety management, but I also have a feeling for handmade cheese: the variability, the rind, the maturation and the judgement it demands.
MK Cheese Consultancy exists to give independent cheesemakers access to that breadth of experience in a flexible, proportionate way.
20+years in artisan cheese, including The Fine Cheese Co., Paxton & Whitfield, I.J. Mellis and Sleight Farm (Mary Holbrook)
Technical8 years as technical manager, leading four BRCGS audits achieving AA grades. HACCP, VACCP and TACCP trained
AoCAcademy of Cheese Level Two Member
A useful first conversation
Tell me what is taking up
too much of your time.
Whether there is one immediate problem or a growing list of technical work, we can start with a straightforward, no-pressure conversation.