The first cheese made with Welsh sea salt has been launched in a unique partnership between iconic Anglesey brand Halen Môn and Wales’s oldest dairy co-operative South Caernarfon Creameries.

The new Sea Salt Cheddar made with 100 per cent milk from Welsh cows at South Caernarfon creameries’ factory in Chwilog, uses pure Halen Môn sea salt made by pumping seawater from the Menai Strait each day.

The first sea salt cheese to be made in Wales, it will sit as part of the Dragon brand’s new Handcrafted range, which is to be launched at the Taste of Wales international trade conference in Newport on 20-21 March.

The luxury range of speciality cheeses produced under the Dragon label will also feature a cheddar aged in the Llechwedd slate caverns at Blaenau Ffestiniog, and a speciality version made with Penderyn whisky.

The new Sea Salt Cheddar was created thanks to a major £13.5m investment in the South Caernarfon Creamery (SCC) cheesemaking plant.

This has allowed SCC to take a flexible approach to developing bespoke new cheeses using traditional open table cheesemaking techniques, which can be produced on a large scale to meet modern retail and consumer demands.

See this week’s north editions for the full story, in shops and online on Thursday