SF-October-2020

thought we’d sell 50 or 60 boxes, and this would keep us going through lockdown (which we thought would last six weeks!) but we’ve now sold almost 1,500 boxes.” The success of the launch was not only good news for Homage2Fromage, but it was also a boon to struggling cheese producers across Britain and Europe. “We included lots of British cheeses in our first mystery box, and then launched a dedicated British and French box which are both still running and very popular,” Vickie says. Autumn and winter are “incredibly important” to the business, as Vickie explains: “Cheese is very much a comfort food and is so ubiquitous with Christmas that it’s important to offer a range of cheese boxes that help people celebrate together with friends and family.” The company is doing just that, with plans for seasonal boxes in I n the first two weeks of lockdown, the artisan cheesemaker Shepherds Purse’s sales held up. Then, they “dropped off a cliff”, according to Caroline Bell, joint managing director. “Throughout April, we were 50% down,” Caroline says. The teamhad to furloughmany staff members due to the drop in demand and ended up donating excess cheese to their local food bank. The story was the same for countless other cheesemakers and dairy farmers. With routes to market cut off overnight due to the closure of the hospitality sector and deli @specialityfood 32 Another company to create a new digital presence was Homage2Fromage, a cheese club known for its all-you-can-eat events held across the UK. The business was scaling rapidly, having just launched in London and expanded into more cities – and then the Covid- 19 crisis came. “The pandemic hit our business pretty hard. Lockdown meant we had to postpone all our events and we weren’t sure whether we would survive,” says co-founder Vickie Rogerson. But the teamwas driven to build upon their recent momentum. They launched a cheese box, Homage2Fromage2You, for a cheese tasting experience that could be delivered straight to customers’ doors. The box was released right at the start of lockdown, when customers were searching for ways to have fun from the safety of their homes, and they were a hit. “We THEGREATBRITISH CHEESE FIGHTBACK Britain’s farmhouse cheesemakers have shown resilience and a drive to innovate in the face of Covid-19’s challenges. As it approaches the key Christmas trading period, where does the industry stand? company is prepared for anything. “We fully expect more curveballs to come and have to be prepared to be agile and look for ways to best support each other.” The direct-to-consumer model The dairy sector was hit particularly hard by the coronavirus crisis. The closure of hospitality, a fractured supply chain and the cancellation of key industry events hit businesses across the sector – but particularly small producers whose main routes to market were through hotels, restaurants, pubs and small retailers. “Dairies were left with hundreds and sometimes thousands of cheeses that were made to supply and fulfill orders which were no longer required,” explained Sarah de Wit, a food technologist with almost 30 years of manufacturing and retail experience. “This pandemic situation demanded that a fast, creative approach was taken to find new routes quickly. Many small dairies developed online sales platforms in order to remove the stock which otherwise would have remained unsold.” counters at major supermarkets, many saw their sales plummet. Cornish Cheese Co lost a huge chunk of its business betweenMarch and June, andWyke Farms said that while Cheddar sales had increased, Stilton sales dropped by 30%. Now, as the industry approaches the vital Christmas trading period, many cheesemakers are still grappling with the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Stricter lockdownmeasures and a potential resurgence of the virus could be detrimental to already struggling businesses. “Christmas is huge for us as cheesemakers,” says Caroline. Data fromKantar shows that total cheese sales in 2019 reached £752,718 in the 12 weeks ending the 29th of December, up 2.6% from the previous year. But what will 2020 hold? There is hope: the industry has seen a huge wave of innovation, with cheesemakers quickly adapting to changing consumer behaviours and discovering newways to promote their products. The team at Shepherds Purse has already optimised their Christmas offering for online sales, and Caroline says the CAROLINE BELL SHEPHERDS PURSE SARAH DE WIT FOOD TECHNOLOGIST VICKIE ROGERSON HOMAGE2FROMAGE COMMENTATORS This pandemic situation demanded that a fast, creative approachwas taken to find new routes quickly HOMAGE2FROMAGE