Speciality Food Inspirational Cheese Retailers 2025

specialityfoodmagazine.com 31 WE DOWHATWE CAN TO EXPLAIN TO CUSTOMERS HOW IMPORTANT THE INDUSTRY IS. WE SHOULD NEVER LOSE IT, IN THE SAMEWAYWE SHOULD NEVER LOSE FESTIVAL CULTURE, ART CULTURE OR BAND CULTURE the couple have learned what customers appreciate, and increased their offering over and over again. A welcoming experience The first thing that hits you, undeniably, as you enter Green & Lovely is the smell of cheese, Paul says. “It’s not a big shop, around 300sq ft. The counter is right in front of you, and the other fridges are filled with lots of lovely things. Everyone gets a warmwelcome, and we instinctively know if they want to wander around for a nosy, or if they’re after something in particular.” Paul says their approach to sales BEST-SELLING CHEESES BLUE CLOUDS Creamy andmild, this blue is made in small batches froma single herd. Similar to a young Gorgonzola. chris@balcombedairy. co.uk DELICE DE BOURGOGNE An absolutely decadent, mousse- textured, light, fluffy, triple cream cheese. fromagerie-lincet.net RACHEL Amulti-layered, complex, flaky hard goats’ milk cheese with bags of flavour. whitelake.co.uk is genuine, honest and friendly. “We are keen and enthusiastic and want to make the experience with us as good as possible. When we sell cheese, we give a lot of information, for example, so if you’re having a dinner party, you might remember a few snippets of what we said, so you can tell your guests and impress them.” It’s a method that clearly works, with 80% of customers being return visitors. “It makes me feel warm and fuzzy we’re doing the right thing,” Paul smiles. The best of British Green & Lovely’s counter is weighted heavily towards British cheeses. It’s crucial, Paul thinks, to support the nation’s makers. “It’s one of the most important heritages of this country, and it’s pure passion. Nobody goes into cheese for the money. We do what we can to explain to customers how important the industry is. We should never lose it, in the same way we should never lose festival culture, art culture or band culture.” All the classic continental cheeses are, of course, in stock, he adds. “You’ve got to have your Gruyère, scooping Gorgonzola and Munster. We don’t have European Brie, though. Instead we have Welsh Brie and two English Bries. You have to stock Baron Bigod these days!” Paul spends a lot of time thinking about the counter, ensuring all countries in Britain are represented – with a particular fondness for Welsh cheese, which he thinks is “absolutely brilliant”. “When people come in and say, ‘oh, boring Cheddar’, I say, ‘get your mouth around this’. Keen’s isn’t boring. Westcombe isn’t boring. These are incredible cheeses. I love sharing that knowledge and spreading happiness through cheese because, my God, what incredible varieties we have!”