At IMP & MAKER, we love working with brilliant makers from all over the UK. But there's something particularly special about finding them right on our doorstep.
Lincolnshire Poacher is one of those makers.
We've worked with the team since we started IMP & MAKER, and their Vintage Poacher and Lincolnshire Red have been part of our cheese hampers from the very beginning.
Made on a family farm in Lincolnshire, using milk from their own herd of 230 cows, Lincolnshire Poacher cheese is quite literally a taste of home for us.
So, we thought it was about time we introduced you to the people behind it.
Meet Lincolnshire Poacher: A Family Farm Story
The farm behind Lincolnshire Poacher has been in the family since 1917.
Dairying began in 1970 under Tim and Simon's father, Richard, but the story of cheese began a little later.
When Simon returned from agricultural college, he was keen to get involved with the family farm but wanted to try something a little different.
So, he started reading up on cheesemaking.
In February 1992, Simon set up a small dairy on the farm with a 1,000-litre vat.
That was the beginning of Lincolnshire Poacher.
Fast forward more than thirty years and things have changed rather a lot. Today, the team makes cheese 365 days a year, turning around 6,000 litres of their own milk into cheese every day.
And the family story continues too.
Tim joined the business in 1998 to look after sales and marketing, and in 2026 his son Sam joined the team, making him the fifth generation of the family to work on the farm.
From one small vat to cheese enjoyed across the UK and around the world, it's quite the journey.
Cheese Made in Lincolnshire
One of the things we love most about Lincolnshire Poacher is just how connected the cheese is to where it's made.
The milk doesn't travel halfway across the country before it reaches the dairy.
It's produced by their own 230 cows, on the family farm, and goes straight into the cheesemaking process.
In fact, there are just four ingredients in their cheese: fresh, raw, unhomogenised milk from their own herd, salt, animal rennet and starter culture.
That's it.
The milk is the star of the show. And because it's raw and unhomogenised, the flavour and texture of the cheese naturally change throughout the year.
The seasons, the weather and even where the cows are in their lactation all have an influence.
So every wheel tells a slightly different story about the farm it came from.
From Poacher to Vintage Poacher
Lincolnshire Poacher sits somewhere between a traditional West Country Cheddar and an Alpine cheese such as Comté.
It's made using traditional cheesemaking methods, then matured until the team decides it's ready to become one of their different varieties.
At around twelve months, every batch is tasted and assessed to decide whether it will become Poacher, Vintage or Double Barrel, and how much longer it needs to mature.
It's a process that relies on patience, experience and plenty of tasting.
Which sounds like a pretty good job to us.
Alongside their original Lincolnshire Poacher, the range has grown to include Lincolnshire Red, a creamy, delicate and nutty cheese, Oak Smoked Lincolnshire Poacher, smoked over untreated oak chips for 24 hours, and Poacher Fifty, their much longer-matured cheese with a drier, more concentrated and savoury flavour.
Poacher Fifty sits somewhere between Lincolnshire Poacher and Parmesan and takes three to four years to reach its best.
It's a brilliant example of just how much time and care can go into a single wheel of cheese.
The Cheese in Our Gift Hampers
This is where Lincolnshire Poacher becomes a particularly important part of the IMP & MAKER story.
We've worked with them since we launched IMP & MAKER, and their cheeses have been part of our cheese hampers from the start.
The Vintage Poacher brings a beautifully mature, full flavour to our cheese selections, while Lincolnshire Red adds something a little creamier, delicate and nutty.
They're the kind of cheeses that belong on a proper cheeseboard, surrounded by good crackers, chutney and all the other things that make opening a hamper feel like an occasion.
And because they're made just down the road from us, there's something extra lovely about being able to send a little taste of Lincolnshire to someone, wherever they are in the UK.
It's one of the reasons we love filling our hampers with products that have a story behind them.
A Very Local Partnership
There's a lot of talk about supporting independent producers, but for us, working with Lincolnshire Poacher makes that feel very real.
We're both Lincolnshire businesses, and we've been growing alongside one another for years.
Their cheese is made on a family farm with a history stretching back more than a century. Our business started around Sarah Louise's kitchen table in Lincolnshire before growing into the gifting business it is today.
So while our hampers travel all over the country, there's always a little bit of Lincolnshire at the heart of them.
And we love that.
When you open one of our cheese hampers and find Lincolnshire Poacher inside, you're not just getting a lovely bit of cheese.
You're getting something made by a family business, using milk from their own cows, on their own farm.
That's exactly the sort of story we want our gifts to tell.
More Than Just Great Cheese
For Lincolnshire Poacher, making great cheese isn't the only thing that matters.
The team also wants to make sure the farm is in good shape for the next generation.
They grow as much of their own feed as possible, avoid agricultural chemicals wherever they can and have invested in several renewable energy projects across the farm.
It's all part of looking after the land, the herd and the business for the generations that come next.
Which feels particularly fitting for a farm that has already been in the family since 1917.
A Cheese Worth Celebrating
There have been plenty of milestones over the years, but one of the team's recent highlights was particularly special.
In 2026, Poacher Fifty won Best Specialist Cheesemakers Association Cheese at the Artisan Cheese Awards.
Considering it takes three to four years to make, it's a pretty long wait to find out whether you've got it right.
Thankfully, they did.
And the story behind Poacher Fifty makes the award even more fun.
It started as an accident when the curd was heated well beyond its usual temperature. Rather than throw the batch away, the team finished the cheese, matured it and discovered something rather special.
What began as a mistake eventually became a permanent part of the Lincolnshire Poacher range.
Not a bad result for forgetting to turn off the steam.
Local. Delicious. Family-Run.
If Lincolnshire Poacher had to describe themselves in three words, their answer was:
Local. Artisan. Delicious.
And we think that sums up the spirit of the business rather nicely.
There's the local connection, of course. There's the traditional cheesemaking and the care that goes into every wheel. And then there's the important bit: it tastes really, really good.
For us, Lincolnshire Poacher is exactly what a great maker should be.
A brilliant product, made by brilliant people, with a proper story behind it.
A Little Taste of Lincolnshire
We've always believed that the best gifts are made up of brilliant things from brilliant people.
Lincolnshire Poacher has been part of that story for us since the very beginning.
Their Vintage Poacher and Lincolnshire Red have been in our cheese hampers since we launched IMP & MAKER, and we're still very fond of seeing them tucked into our gifts all these years later.
Because when you send one of our cheese hampers, you're not just sending cheese.
You're sending a little bit of Lincolnshire, a little bit of family farming history and a product that's been made with care just down the road from us.
You can discover more about Lincolnshire Poacher and their range of cheeses over on their website, and if you're looking for a gift for a serious cheese lover, take a look at our cheese hampers, packed with delicious cheeses, brilliant accompaniments and plenty of reasons to get the cheeseboard out.
