Cheese Retailers April 2024

specialityfoodmagazine.com 33 “One of our greatest successes is the rapidly growing CheeseWedding Cake side of the business,” says Jo. “It is something we offered before we had the Cheese Room, but demand has increased and we are lucky to be recommended by several local wedding venues. Developing and streamlining this side of the business is a plan for this year as well as Newlyns Cheese Club!” MAKING AN OCCASION OUT OF CHEESE but customer-friendly 10-12 degrees centigrade, and this allows us to have all our cheese unwrapped and cut to order. At the end of the day everything is carefully wrapped up and the roomdrops to normal fridge temperature overnight.” In addition, says Jo, “the Cheese Room has a ripening chamber which allows us to nurture cheeses so they are ready to eat and enjoy as soon as the customer gets home.” With such care and attention to detail bestowed upon the cheeses in their care, no wonder Newlyns Farm Shop’s reputation precedes it. “We pride ourselves on the quality of our cheese and howwe take care of it, and this has helped us gain a reputation for being ‘the’ place to get cheese in quite a wide area,” Jo says. With a varied range of customers seeking out great cheese, customer service comes front and centre at Newlyns FarmShop. “We have a very mixed customer base in both age and spend,” explains Jo. “It is important to talk to the customer and gain their confidence in what you are selling. If they are new, find out what they would normally buy, even from the supermarkets, as it gives you an idea WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON THE QUALITY OF OUR CHEESE AND HOWWE TAKE CARE OF IT, AND THIS HAS HELPED US GAIN A REPUTATION FOR BEING ‘THE’ PLACE TO GET CHEESE IN QUITE AWIDE AREA on what to guide them towards.” Of course, everyone appreciates connection in a retail environment, and building these bonds has proven fruitful for Jo. “Recognising regular customers and remembering their favourites is also important as you can always tempt them with something new.” The restrictions put in place as a result of the Covid pandemic were the greatest challenge that Jo experienced since opening the Cheese Room. “The room is small and to adhere to guidelines we could only take one customer at a time in the room, which slowed down our ability to sell.” With some strategic moves, Jo and the teamwere able to make it work despite the challenges. “We closed the room to customers, displayed as much as we could in the windows, placed tables at both doors and served the customers from there. It worked – with the team based in the roomwe could help three to four people at a time. However, the customers were very pleased to come back into the roomwhen life returned to normal.”