Cheesemakers in the Yorkshire Dales are in line to benefit from France's opposition to the war against Iraq.

Americans have lost their taste for products from across the Channel, and buyers working for major suppliers in the States have started combing the UK for British alternatives to French produce.

Yesterday, they travelled the road already trodden by plasticine partners and cheese lovers Wallace and Grommet to the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes.

"I think it's fair to say there is a massive swing away from French produce," said Byron Hanson, who has 20 stores to stock in Minneapolis and Minnesota.

"I need to find something else to put in my customers' mouths, so why not try Yorkshire?"

Russ Vernon, of West Point Market, emphasised the importance placed on quality in America. "People want to know their food is safe, natural and healthy and the range of products offered by the Wensleydale Creamery certainly seem to fit all the criteria," he said.

But it is not just dairy products which could soon be on their way to shopping malls across the Atlantic.

The delegation's gastronomic journey of discovery continues in Harrogate today.

There, buyers will try other home-grown goods including John Farrah's toffee from Harrogate, Black Sheep bitter from Masham and Manor Born sausages from Thirsk.

Wensleydale Creamery's managing director David Hartley said: "We don't like to knock what Dairy Crest were doing before the management buyout in 1992, but the emphasis in the 1980s was more on the commercial market.

"At the time, they seemed to have lost the plot a bit but, since then, we hope we have put things right by reintroducing handmade, high-quality cheeses which are aimed at discerning customers."