Speciality-Food-June-2025

A huge part of the pleasure of visiting a cheese specialist or independent deli counter is being able to ‘try before you buy’. While the range of cheeses available in some upmarket multiples today is impressive, customers have nothing to go onwhen it comes to texture, flavour or punchiness, bar the small label beside each variety – largely limited to price, milk variety and a very short description. As the average British shopper is notoriously cautious about deviating from their usual basket, this environment does little to inspire them to step out of their comfort zone. This is where you come in. Your role, as a fine food retailer, is to make ingredients (and not just cheese) come alive. To help consumers to interact with and appreciate them. That is themagic of the speciality world – seeing someone’s face light up as they experience their first taste of authentic farmhouse Red Leicester, or as they take a leap of faith (under your guidance), delving further into the world of washed rinds and decadent blues. If you’re an indie that’s perhaps been a bit more cautious of sampling since Covid (when it was a no-no) here that can be forgottenwhen running a busy shop. Ideally take cheese from the fridge and prepare it 30 to 60minutes before popping it on the counter for sampling. “Cold cheese hides its aroma and softens its character,” she explains. “A ripe Brie eaten straight from the fridge will taste bland and feel too firm– but give it time to breathe and it becomes silky, aromatic and utterly irresistible.” 7 CONTRAST When you’re serving up your samples, always think about contrast, Laura continues. “Add something crunchy (crackers or toasted nuts), something sweet (figs, honey or grapes), or something acidic,” to matchwhat you’re offering and provide a source of inspiration for shoppers. 8 LOOKS MATTER An effective way to draw customers towards your tasting tray (other than your sparkling personality, of course) is tomake it feel like amini cheeseboard, thinks Laura. Don’t just ‘throw’ things onto a platter as an afterthought. “Use small wooden or slate trays to keep things clean and elevated. Top up cheese regularly so it never looks tired or picked over. And a small garnish – like rosemary, thyme or even a few grapes – adds seasonal colour and visual appeal, especially when swapped out through the year.” In spring and summer she suggests strawberries, mint, edible flowers and herbs, switching to dried fruits and ramekins of chutney for richness in autumn and winter. 9 PLACEMENT IS EVERYTHING Always place your tasting trays at the front of the counter, never hidden behind, Laura continues. “Add a small sign suggesting pairings or flavour notes. It only takes a fewwords to make it irresistible. And encourage staff to interact – ‘Have you tried this one before?’ or ‘Would you pair this with something sweet or savoury?’. 10 UPSELL Don’t waste the opportunity sampling gives you to gently remind customers of the other good things you have to offer. Let themknow, as they taste the cheese, which crackers (if any) the samples are paired with, and the wines, chutneys, relishes and pickles on your shelves that would be ideal partners. are just a few of the reasons it should become a larger part of your offering, and how you can get themost out of offering tastings. 1 STRIKE UP CONVERSATIONS Cheese expert Ned Palmer, of The Cheese Tasting Co, says tastings are a vital way to capture shoppers’ imaginations while fostering a sense of comfort. “The whole point is to make people feel comfortable,” he explains. “Most people haven’t been into a cheese shop before. They look at us in our little uniforms and feel intimidated. Themore comfortable they are, themore likely they are to buy something,” he adds. Offering something to try, and asking questions about what customers do and don’t like gets the conversation flowing, and should immediately put most people at ease. 2 SHOW YOUR KNOWLEDGE Simon Jones at Forest Deli sees sampling as a way to share his expertise. To offer nuggets of information that go beyond what @specialityfood 38 COUNTERPOINT SPONSORED BY Add a small sign suggesting pairings or flavour notes it a go, freeing up space for your next delivery. 4 ENCOURAGE ADVENTURE Youwill definitely have customers who are nervous about veering away from their regular Cheddar, but Mark Kacary of The Norfolk Deli says using your expertise (and charm) goes a long way to shifting shoppers’ perceptions and helping them try something new (for them). If someone says they don’t like blue cheese, for example, hemight suggest, “You haven’t tried the right blue cheese”, before discovering what they didn’t enjoy about the types they’ve eaten previously, and encouraging them to try varieties more aligned with their palate. “What’s the worst that could happen?” 5 BE BOLD Some cheesemongers will only offer samples when asked, but Mark thinks pre-cutting and displaying a few cheeses on the counter has its merits. There are disadvantages, “in that it encourages the ‘I haven’t had lunch yet, but I’mhungry’ brigade, but does allow for some others to taste and ask about the cheese and, more often than not, if you combine sampling with customer engagement, then a sale is the net result”. 6 WARM IT UP The golden rule when serving cheese, says Laura Billington, founder of Graze Cheshire, is always to bring it to room temperature – something shoppers can see on packaging or a counter label. That could be telling the story of amaker and their land, or somethingmore informational. For example, “We’ll talk about the importance of taking cheese out of the fridge quite a while before eating. A really sharp Cheddar straight from the fridge does not give all of its flavours up,” he says. Use tastings as a way to demonstrate your understanding of the seasonality of some cheeses, Ned adds. “So, things like the fact you won’t get a lot of fresh goats’ cheese in winter, but will in summer.” 3 CONTROL YOUR STOCK Thoughmost cheesemongers are led by ‘what’s best’ or the cheeses they love themost, another reason for offering tastings is to helpwith the flow of cheese through your stock room. If you’ve got a surplus of a certain variety about to ‘peak’, make a show of tasting it, offering it in myriad interesting ways, andmaking cooking and usage suggestions in person and via your social accounts to gently nudge shoppers into giving 10 TIPS FOR IN-STORE CHEESE TASTINGS Why does sampling matter in fine food retail? Cheese experts share their thoughts