Speciality Food Inspirational Cheese Retailers 2025

specialityfoodmagazine.com 5 S peciality Food is delighted to have joined forces with Le Gruyère AOP to present Inspirational Cheese Retailers for the fifth year. Both teams are longtime champions of independent and specialist cheese retailing, working hard to support the passionate and dedicated professionals who are at the very heart of the fine food industry. It gives us an immense sense of pride to once again present this publication in homage to the expertise of the UK’s best cheesemongers. Across the following pages you’ll gain insight into howandwhy some of Britain’s finest cheese retailers were founded, what excites them about the industry, what their customers love, and inside tips for success. We all knowhowdemanding running an independent business can be, yet these individuals stand out amongst the crowd, havingmade it their duty to put artisan cheeses on a pedestal. They are not simply retailers. These independents are bastions of the artisan cheesemakingworld, helping to preserve its rich history by acting as ambassadors, telling stories from the farms and cheesemaking rooms, and ensuring every single piece is stored, cut, sold andwrappedwith the attention it deserves. Thanks to their passion and adoring customer bases, it wasn’t hard to uncover these businesses. We put theword out across the fine food industry and beyond via an online survey, offering cheese lovers the opportunity to put their favourite independent cheese purveyor in the spotlight. The strength of nominations was, once again, phenomenal this year, and choosing just 15 to highlight was a difficult task. Each and every business featured brings something different to the cheese retailing landscape. We also had the pleasure of revisiting some of the indie cheese retailers we featured in the 2024 edition of this publication, to see what they’ve been up to over the past 12 months. From lessons learned, to inspiring tips, these catch- ups are also well worth a read. We hope you find this year’s edition of Inspirational Cheese Retailers insightful, informative and joyful. HowWePut ThisGuideTogether It is a great honour to once again join forces with the team at Speciality Food to celebrate some of Britain’s most remarkable cheese retailers. At Le Gruyère AOP we never fail to be inspired by the sheer determination and passion demonstrated by the people behind these businesses, who work tirelessly to champion the best cheeses from across the world. Every business highlighted is a worthy and deserving recipient of this accolade and we hope you’ll join us in congratulating them all. HELEN DAYSH HEAD OF MARKETING UK AT LE GRUYÈRE AOP