Talking Continental (Cheese)

“Over the past five years our sales of continental cheese has been fairly constant, and equate to a third of our annual sales. Where we have seen a slight shift is in actual countries – French cheeses have always had the highest number of sales for us, but over the past few years we’ve seen increases in cheeses from Italy, Ireland and Spain, and the relative percentages between countries shift. The single best-selling cheese for us is Brie de Meaux PDO from Donge. This classic and delicious cheese is the best Brie available.

“It’s the classic Continental cheeses that sell well, but we do carry a range of over 50 continental cheeses and the challenge is to get customers to taste the lesser known ones, which are also delicious. They all deserve to be better known and enjoyed and we support them by having them on taste on a regular basis. A new cheese for us this year is Moliterno with truffle. Produced in Sardinia, Pecorino Moliterno al Tartufo is a raw sheep’s milk cheese shot through with thick veins of truffle. During maturation, the cheese is rubbed with vinegar and local olive oil. This creates a rich, earthy cheese enhanced by the truffle flavour. It’s simply delicious!

“At Paxton & Whitfield our customers are still interested in these Continental varieties and we sell a good amount of them. Customers are looking for good cheeses for their cheeseboard, whatever the cheese’s country of origin. Continental cheeses have always been popular. Customers want the best and we expect sales to continue as they have. What I would also like to see is newer cheeses coming onto the market from the Continent. We are seeing some new cheeses from Spain and Italy coming through as both these countries now have good routes to market.”