Welcome to skyr, the Viking ‘superfood’ waking up Britain

[Northerner]

One of Iceland’s top dairy experts will arrive in Britain this week to help an adventurous Yorkshire farmer increase production of skyr, a Viking food that was barely known beyond the north Atlantic for a thousand years but is now being marketed as a “superfood”.

Ten years ago skyr – prounced skeer with a trill on the r – barely registered in the world’s yoghurt market. Now, according to global business consultants Future Market Insights, the market for skyr is worth nearly $8bn (£6.4bn) a year and growing fast.

The skyr boom first took off in the US and Scandinavia and could sweep into Asia after a recent visit to Japan and China by Icelandic dairy farmers. Skyr first went on sale in British supermarkets in 2015 and is still relatively unknown here – but that could be about to change.

Yorkshireman Sam Moorhouse, 23, the only British farmer making skyr, already has a deal with Booths supermarket, known as “the Waitrose of the north”. He will welcome Icelandic dairy expert Thorarinn Egill Sveinsson to Hesper Farm, near Skipton, on Thursday to help him install new equipment.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/27/skyr-viking-superfood-waking-up-britain

Not sold locally, but hopefully that will change - tried some a couple of weeks back and really liked it! 🙂

 

[grovesy]

I thought Booths was only Cumbria / Lancashire supermarket chain.

 

[Northerner]

I thought Booths was only Cumbria / Lancashire supermarket chain.

I'm from Yorkshire and never heard of it! 🙄

 

[grovesy]

No I am from what is now known as Teeside and only know of them from visiting when in the lakes a few years ago. I have checked on their website and they only have a handful of stores in Yorkshire.

 

[cherrypie]

It is stocked in some supermarkets, Asda, Sainsbury, Morrison and Tesco.
http://www.arlafoods.co.uk/brands/arla-skyr/

 

[grovesy]

The photo looks as though it is a different brand in the article.

 

[HOBIE]

I thought Booths was only Cumbria / Lancashire supermarket chain.

You are right Grovesy. Keswick town ctr used to be Lakes. There car park cops for it when it floods. We buy milk from them & it says it comes from local British farms. Good ! 😎

 

[weecee]

Have had Skyr a few times. The pots are quite large, about 175g if I remember correctly. Was really thick and creamy. Came in lovely flavours too. Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry. All good. Not the cheapest thing but one pot does two breakfasts.

 

[KookyCat]

I had a friend at Uni who had an Icelandic mother and she used to bring us homemade Skyr, it was delicious with a bit of honey and flaked almonds. We all got very excited when she was about to visit since it meant yummy food was coming (she was also a very nice lady). My friend hated the stuff though because she was force fed it as an infant I suspect, but she makes it for her kids now and they love it. I hope the Icelanders don't get shoved out of the market by the bigger brands though, that'd be a shame.