CHEESEWIRE

Cost-of-living crisis taking a heavy toll on specialist shops

By Patrick McGuigan

Rising cheese prices, soaring utility bills and staff shortages are taking their toll on cheese retailers, who are being forced to take increasingly desperate measures – including shutting up shop entirely.

The wholesale price of cheese has increased 10-30% in the past six months on the back of milk prices almost doubling in the past 18 months, while many cheese retailers have also been hit by huge increases in bills. A slowdown in trade and staff recruitment difficulties are also affecting businesses.

In Newcastle, the owner of Grate cheese shop launched a crowd-funding campaign in September to save the shop, after her electricity bill went from £300 to £2,000 a month. The campaign, which received widespread media attention, has so far raised £7.5k and the shop has seen an increase in footfall, which has enabled the business to keep trading until the key Christmas period.

“It was either tell people what was happening or close the doors,” said Moz Murphy. “I know my customers’ names and their kids’ names. I’m part of a community and I was hoping they still wanted me to be here, and they did.”

In Whitley Bay, also in the North East, cheese shop Kork has seen its energy bill increase from around £350 a month to more than £1,600 – a 378% increase, according to owner Shawn Darling-Cooper. He has since launched a series of tasting events to help meet the cost.

Suffolk retailer Slate Cheese closed its shops in Southwold and Aldeburgh in September and October, respectively, and has stopped online sales, although director Clare Jackson plans to bring back the brand in some form next year.

She told FFD that the current economic environment is extremely tough for cheese retailers. “There are huge cost pressures and it looks like they are only going to get worse,” she said. “Recruiting staff is also very difficult, particularly for a business trying to open shops seven days a week. Without the right team, it’s hard to grow.”

Northants-based Hamm Tun Fine Foods also closed its deli in Whittlebury Park in September, partly because of “the challenging economy”, although continues to trade at its shop in Long Buckby. Meanwhile, Norfolk chef Charlie Hodson shut the cheese room and deli at his Hodson & Co site in Aylsham in October after his electricity bill quadrupled and trade fell.

Moz Murphy, of Grate in Newcastle, will survive until Christmas after a crowdfunding campaign

NEWS IN BRIEF

Joseph Heler Cheese in Nantwich has acquired Macclesfield-based the Cheshire Cheese Company, which supplies over 650 indie retailers in the UK, and has 130,000 customers online. Co-founder Simon Spurrell remains as MD.

Protestors from Animal Rebellion continued to campaign for a plant-based food system by pouring milk on the floors of Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Whole Foods and Harrods in October.

The Academy of Cheese is now offering its most advanced accreditation yet for cheese professionals. The Level Three: Fellow certification focuses on deepening one’s knowledge of cheesemaking and the distribution chain as well as improving on assessment and tasting skills.

British cheesemakers have long struggled to create a cheese to rival Italy’s famous crystalline classics, but Oxfordshire-based Nettlebed Creamery may have finally cracked it. Patrick Heathcoat Amory and owner Rose Grimond (pictured) have made a dozen prototypes, after watching videos of Parmesan production on YouTube. The 14kg, 18-month-aged cheeses were well received at the World Cheese Market in Wales last month. nettlebedcreamery.com

THREE WAYS WITH...

Rushmore

This new cheese from Sharpham Dairy in Devon is made with a blend of Jersey and goats’ milk and has a white rind and crumbly texture a little like Caerphilly. The flavour combines citrussy acidity and richness from the Jersey milk, plus a delicate tangy note from the goats’ milk.

English Sparkling Wine There’s a mild, milky quality to Rushmore that could be overwhelmed by red wine, but is complemented nicely by the buttery, brioche notes of sparkling whites. Champagne is all well and good, but the sappy acidity of English sparkling wines feel like a more natural match. Try Cornwall-based Knightor Winery’s Blanc de Blancs 2015, made with Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc grapes, which has a wonderful mix of apricot, butter and marzipan notes.

Green Pepper Sourdough Crackers The Supreme Champion at this year’s Great Taste Awards was Kadodé Kampot Fermented Green Peppers, which are used to great effect by Devonbased Fresh Flour Company in their earthy sourdough crackers. They’re remarkably complex in flavour, combining floral and fermented notes, bringing a fragrant slow burn of heat and crunch to the rich cheese.

Focaccia Rushmore is crumbly enough to be used a little like Feta in salads or over pasta. It works particularly well with the earthy flavours of roasted beetroot and sweet notes of roasted squash, and can also be pressed into focaccia with tomatoes, olives and rosemary.

Retailer No 2 Pound Street adds British cheese wholesale arm

By Patrick McGuigan

Buckinghamshire-based cheesemonger No 2 Pound Street has launched a national wholesale business supplying British cheeses from regional producers that fly under the radar.

Owner James Grant, who already delivers cheese to retailers and foodservice in his local area, launched the new national business at the World Cheese Market, held alongside the World Cheese Awards in Newport last month. He had a host of famous cheesemakers on his stand, including Jamie Montgomery, Graham Kirkham and Joe Schneider of Stichelton.

However, he said the new business would also focus on lesser-known cheeses, providing a national platform to regional cheesemakers. These include Thornby Moor in Cumbria, Pextenement in Yorkshire and Cobbler’s Nibble in Northants.

“Our USP is that I will endeavour to find and support small cheesemakers that are often not seen elsewhere,” said Grant. “British farming and cheesemaking needs as much backing as possible at the moment.”

No 2 Pound Street has four vans and makes regular runs to the West Country, the Midlands and the North to collect cheese for its business in Wendover. Grant said the wholesale business would be able to deliver to retailers and restaurants directly in these areas, as well as nationally via courier. The company has space for 4.5 tonnes of cheeses at its premises, which includes a temperature and humidity controlled ageing room for hard cheeses.

“Small cheesemakers are often so busy making cheese that they don’t have the resources to market their cheeses and expand,” he said. “We want to be the ambassador for these producers and take their products to a wider market.”

James Grant’s new wholesale offer includes a variety of British cheeses

2poundstreet.com

BEHIND THE COUNTER TIPS OF THE TRADE

Mathew Carver, Funk, London

If music be the food of love, then having a record player in a cheese shop is a no-brainer. That’s the thinking at Hackneybased cheesemonger Funk, part of the Cheese Bar restaurant group, where a turntable and selection of records takes pride of place in the shop.

“We play soul, funk, afrobeat, disco –nothing too commercial or too heavy,” says owner Mathew Carver. “Music makes the space more inviting, so people want to spend more time here. Cheese shops can be intimidating, but this is an ice-breaker. People ask about the music and then the cheese.”

Music is also an important part of the shop’s online cheese subscription with each month’s selection including a ‘music to eat cheese to’ playlist curated by a guest DJ. “In the summer, our Glasonbury-themed box featured cheeses we use on the Cheese Truck (a sister business, which sells grilled cheese sandwiches at festivals), plus a playlist with lots of bands playing at the festival,” says Carver.

thecheesebar.com/funk/

CHEESE IN PROFILE with

Ogleshield

What’s the story?

The Montgomery family is famous for making superb cheddar on their farm in North Cadbury, Somerset for three generations. When many stopped making cheese during the World Wars, they continued, and today Jamie Montgomery carries on the tradition to farm their land and make cheese. Jamie first began developing this washed rind cheese with visiting cheesemaker Peter Kindle in 1997 to make use of the rich milk from his herd of Jersey cows. Originally called Jersey Shield - after a 2,500-yearold shield found on the pasture where the cows graze - the cheese had a dry rind and mild flavour. Its name was changed after being transformed by affineur Bill Oglethorpe, who washed the cheese to achieve a pungent orange rind. Ogleshield is now considered the West Country’s equivalent to Raclette.

Milk:

Cows’, unpasteurised.

Variations:

A pasteurised version is made for export markets.

Cheesemonger tip:

This is a great melting cheese, ideal for toasties and as a British substitute for Raclette. Uncooked on a cheeseboard, upsell it with an off-dry sparkling Somerset cider.

and animal rennet are added to raw milk. After coagulation, the curds are cut to pea-sized pieces, scalded at 39°C and washed in warm water. These are ladled into large, shallow moulds, where they are stacked and pressed with a 25kg weight. The cheese is brined for 48 hours then washed every other day in fresh spring water as it matures over three months.

Appearance & texture:

It has a slightly moist, orange rind with a supple, semi-soft texture. Its pungent aroma and sweet, milky paste develops into big, bold flavours with rich savoury notes.

Chef’s recommendation:

Melt over new potatoes and accompany with pickled cucumber and British charcuterie. When used in cooking, serve with a Belgian-style wheat beer or a fruity white wine.

There are a number of ways you can study Level 1 & 2 Academy of Cheese courses: online as self-study eLearning, interactive virtual classes or traditional classes at a venue. Visit academyofcheese.org for more information.

It’s all in the blend

We have three times the problems than if we just used one milk

Caseificio dell’Alta Langa is continuing the mixed milk traditions of Piedmont in a very modern way.

Interview by Patrick McGuigan

YOU’RE NEVER FAR from something delicious in Piedmont. Bordered by France and the Maritime Alps in the far north-west of Italy, the region’s hills are lined with vineyards and hazelnut groves, while white truffles grow deep beneath the ground in its woodlands.

There’s plenty to interest cheese-lovers too, with Slow Food’s iconic Bra cheese festival held every two years and numerous protected varieties, from Robiola de Rocaverrano goats’ cheese to the crumbly blue Castelmagno.

One of Piedmont’s best-known dairies is Caseificio dell’Alta Langa, which sits in the hills of Cuneo, close to the famous wine region Barolo and the truffle trading town, Alba. Set up in 1991 by the Merlo family, the business specialises in small, soft cheeses, such as the wrinkly rinded La Tur and ash-coated Carboncino, many of which are made from a mix of cows’, goats’ and sheep’s milk.

“Mixed milk cheeses are a tradition of Piedmont,” says director Diego Merlo, who runs the business with his brother Nicola. “There used to be many small farms with just one goat, a couple of sheep and a cow. They would mix their milks so they had enough to make cheese.”

Continuing the tradition is not without its headaches, however, as seasonal changes in the milk must be carefully managed.

“We have three times the problems than if we just used one milk,” he says. “In the summer, the goats’ milk might be low in fat, but the sheep’s milk will be really creamy. In January it could be the other way round. We add cream to balance the differences.”

While tradition is important at Caseificio dell’Alta Langa, in other respects it’s a thoroughly modern business. Around 25 tonnes of cheese are produced each week – a huge amount compared to most artisan cheesemakers – but production has grown by employing more cheesemakers (the company employs 75 people in total) rather than through automation. A tour of the dairy proves as much, with dozens of cheesemakers hard at work at small vats, while others ladle curd into moulds. “We’re not big and we are not small – somewhere in the middle,” says Merlo.

Many cheesemakers in Piedmont make PDO-protected cheeses but Alta Langa focuses instead on brands. Half of its sales come from exports to countries including the US and Japan, as well as the UK, where Vallebona, The Fine Cheese Co. and Waitrose are customers.

The company also bought London-based Italian food importer Gastronomica in 2019.

The move has made post-Brexit paperwork easier, guarantees safe passage for its delicate cheeses. It also provided continuity during the pandemic, but rising costs are the issue now.

“We’ve seen huge increases in milk prices because of the war in Ukraine,” says CEO Nicola Merlo. “Gas, electricity, packaging and transport have all gone up too.”

Prices have had to rise accordingly, but they are still competitive. La Tur retails at The Fine Cheese Co for £7.50, while Robiola Bosina is on sale in Waitrose at £6.70.

“We’ve seen more cheesemakers setting up in the US and Britain, but we see it as a good thing,” says Nicola. “It shows people are interested in cheese in those countries and we all benefit. It’s amazing how good the cheese is in the UK now, but we offer something different.”

caseificioaltalanga.it

CROSS SECTION

La Tur

1

Alta Langa makes more than 25 cheeses, including blues, washed rinds and camembert styles, but is probably best known in the UK for La Tur – a dainty 200g cheese made with a blend of pasteurised cows’, sheep’s and goats’ milk, plus double cream.

Around 1.5 tonnes of the cheese are made weekly, with the three milks slowly acidified in tubs using starter cultures that are cultivated in house. Traditional rennet is also used to set the curd, which is then ladled into moulds, drained and brined. The cheeses are matured for at least eight days, during which time the wrinkly Geotrichum rind develops. Beneath the paper-thin rind, the cheese has a glossy, melted ice cream texture, while the flavour is full of double cream notes and a slight piquancy from the goat’s milk.

2 3

BEST CHEESE IN THE WORLD.