Growing as a Cheesemaker: Meet Chiswick Cheese Market Grantee, Ethan Parry

When Ethan Parry started Usk Valley Dairy with his parents in 2025, the ambition was clear: to make distinctive, small-batch cheeses using locally sourced milk in the Usk Valley.

Today, Ethan is running a purpose-built micro-dairy in South Wales, producing Gouda-style and Brie-style cheeses for farm shops, delis and food events.

Having been awarded one of this year’s three Chiswick Cheese Market Cheesemakers’ Grants, Ethan now has the opportunity to build on everything he has learned so far and develop the deeper technical understanding needed to consistently produce exceptional cheese.

Learning by doing

Ethan’s cheesemaking education has, until now, been largely self-directed.

He is involved in every stage of the make process, from milk handling and pasteurisation through to curd formation, pressing, brining and maturation. Alongside the practical side of cheesemaking, he has developed food safety and hygiene systems aligned with HACCP principles, including microbiological testing and cleaning validation.

Selling directly through farm shops, delis and food events has also given Ethan an appreciation of how people respond to his cheeses, and how their feedback can help shape what he makes.

But as his experience has grown, so has his curiosity about what is happening inside the cheese itself.

“Everything so far has been very hands-on and largely self-taught,” Ethan explains. “That’s been great to a point, but now I want to understand more about the cheese we’re making.”

For Ethan, the next stage is not simply about making more cheese. It is about understanding why each stage of the process matters and how small changes can influence the character of the finished cheese.

From making cheese to understanding cheese

One of Ethan’s biggest areas of interest is affinage.

With his own dedicated maturation space now in place, he has been able to experiment with how different conditions affect his cheeses. He has been researching humidity and ageing techniques and running monthly trials, setting aside individual wheels to test different approaches.

His Gouda-style cheese currently matures for around five to six months, but Ethan is keen to explore longer maturation and understand how he can develop greater complexity in the cheese.

He is also experimenting with his Brie-style cheese, made using Jersey cow’s milk sourced from a local farm near Abergavenny. The milk has a particularly high butterfat content, adding another dimension to the cheesemaking process.

These experiments reflect Ethan’s growing curiosity about the relationship between milk, seasonality, maturation and flavour.

He wants to understand how factors such as feed, lactation cycles, milk composition and seasonal changes carry through into cheese – and how working with those natural variations can help shape the character of each make.

A small dairy, with plenty to learn

The past year has brought a significant change for Ethan.

After initially balancing cheesemaking with another job, he has now committed to Usk Valley Dairy full-time. That has given him more time to concentrate on the things he enjoys most: making cheese, learning from each make and understanding the many small details that influence the finished result.

Moving into dedicated premises has been another important step. The purpose-built micro-dairy gives Ethan space for cheesemaking, brining and maturation, allowing him to follow the cheese throughout its journey in one place. Setting up the facility has not been without its challenges, including adapting second-hand equipment sourced from a former cheesemaking operation.

But working through those difficulties has ultimately given Ethan a much deeper understanding of his recipes and the way his cheeses behave.

That growth, however, will remain deliberately controlled.

Small batches, seasonal rhythms

For Ethan, keeping things small is an important part of the way Usk Valley Dairy makes cheese.

Rather than chasing volume, the focus is on making carefully, in small batches, and giving the cheeses the time and attention they need.

“For us, it’s about finding the right homes for our cheeses,” Ethan says. “We’re drawn to farm shops, independent delis and food events where there’s a genuine appreciation for small-scale, locally made cheeses.”

The cheeses are already primarily sold across Southeast and West Wales, with people further afield beginning to discover them too.

There is also a strong emphasis on working with the seasons rather than trying to make the same cheese in exactly the same way all year round.

Ethan is increasingly interested in the connection between farming, milk and cheese – and in how the natural changes that happen throughout the year can become part of the character of the finished cheese.

“Milk is never exactly the same,” he says. “I’m really interested in understanding what those changes mean for our cheese and how we can work with them.”

Looking to the future

While Ethan has ambitions to explore new cheeses – including exploring sheep’s milk and further refining his soft cheeses – his immediate priority is to perfect what he already makes.

Ethan is incredibly proud of what has been achieved in such a short space of time. In the first year of making cheese, a selection of cheeses picked up awards, providing a welcome recognition of the work that had gone into developing them. But for Ethan, the awards are just one part of the journey. Now, his focus is on continuing to learn, refining the cheeses and understanding how small changes can make them even better.

That means developing the Gouda-style cheeses, exploring longer maturation where appropriate, refining rind development and culture behaviour, and understanding how to achieve the character he is looking for from one make to the next.

He is also working towards SALSA Plus Cheese accreditation, strengthening the foundations of the dairy as it continues to develop.

For Ethan, the Chiswick Cheesemakers’ Grant represents an opportunity to bring together the practical experience he has gained through running his own dairy with structured education from experienced industry professionals.

Having already completed the Academy of Cheese Level One course at Paxton & Whitfield in London, he is particularly keen to work through the Academy of Cheese certifications, broadening his understanding beyond the cheeses he currently makes and developing a greater appreciation of cheese styles, milk types, tasting and production.

Ultimately, his ambition is straightforward: to move from simply making cheese to consistently making great cheese — and understanding the “why” behind every step.

The Grant will help Ethan take that next step, giving him the knowledge, confidence and technical foundation to continue developing Usk Valley Dairy while staying true to its original ethos: locally sourced milk, carefully made cheese, small batches and a commitment to quality over quantity.