Inspirational Cheese Retailers 2025 - The Cambridge Cheese Company

The Cambridge Cheese Company
Location: Cambridge
Founded: 1994
Founders: Jacky and Paul Sutton-Adam

Jacky and Paul Sutton-Adam know more than a thing or two about cheese. After all, they’ve had three decades to learn the tricks of the trade since opening the doors to The Cambridge Cheese Company in 1994. For them, it truly is a passion. But founding the business was done rather on a whim.

Having both been made redundant from their careers in the wine industry (“the best fun ever”), while considering their next step they made a visit to a cheese shop in Norwich - and it sparked something in them both.

“Paul said, ‘I think we could do a cheese shop’,” says Jacky. “And I said, ‘yes, let’s do that’.”

It took a year to find the right premises (and their feet). “I thought we could just buy a shop, set it up, job done,” Jacky recalls. “Paul had more foresight. He did a cheese diploma so he could have ‘cheese dip’ after his name ... but he’s never actually done that,” she laughs.

A landscape of change

The idea for the shop, explains Jacky, was to “do cheese, and do it well”, in the style of a European food seller. “In France you buy meat from the boucherie, bread from the boulangerie, cheese from the fromagerie. That vision of just being able to focus on one thing appealed to us.”

At the time of opening, the cheese industry was newly invigorating itself after the milk quota disaster, she continues. “Milk over and above would not get any subsidy. A lot of British farmers producing milk were looking around for granny’s old cheese recipes and trying their hand at them.”

The Cambridge Cheese Company really has seen the world of cheese change over the last 30 years – watching old makers disappear into obscurity, while new ones take their place.

It’s something Jacky says she’s been reflecting on recently. One of the most notable things that’s changed is the lack of availability of raw milk cheeses. “Covid was very cataclysmic in terms of British cheesemaking too. Hospitality had to shut overnight, and it was responsible for a third of UK cheese production. All of a sudden, all this cheese was available with nowhere to sell it.” Campaigning by public figures opened people’s eyes to British cheeses and stimulated the market for homegrown varieties, Jacky adds. 

Today the shop stocks more than 200 cheeses in rotation, with a ratio of 40% British to 60% continental. “People still come in and say, ‘have you got anything new I haven’t tried before?’. It’s a never-ending piece of work to keep up with that!”

A matter of taste

Everybody who sets foot in The Cambridge Cheese Company is greeted, regardless of whether they’re browsing, or actively approaching the counter, says Jacky. “Normally they come in with lots of questions – they could be looking for a cheeseboard for 30 people, or have a friend who is vegetarian and want all vegetarian cheeses. 

“What they want is incredibly varied, and our job is always to help them find the perfect cheese.”

Samples have a starring role to play. “We use tasting samples a lot – probably more than most. If there was a time and motion study done, they would say, ‘you’re spending too much time tasting with customers’,” she jokes.

The same level of care is lavished upon the 700 or so other products in store. All are trialled by the staff, so they can give informed advice to customers. Staff are also trained in how to pair cheese with other cheeses, and the art of creating a cheeseboard.

Diverse demographics

Cheese shops might once have been the epicurean playgrounds of gourmands, but today that’s changed dramatically, says Jacky, who is seeing lots of younger shoppers in store – likely inspired by social media, and the trend towards grazing boards and dinner parties.

Her team (mostly in their 20s and 30s), have a part to play in inspiring their peers too. “They are mad keen and passionate about cheese, and up to speed on what the current tastes are. Back in the day, people couldn’t get enough of strong, punchy, sock you between the eyes flavours. But increasingly the trend amongst younger clients is towards things that are milder, more creamy, and luxurious.”

That’s what draws these customers in. And this presents an opportunity, Jacky says, to show them how multidimensional cheese can be. It’s more than soft, hard, strong or mild. “Our tool of the trade is our expertise, introducing them to other flavours and cheeses they might not have thought about before.” This approach and building of trust ensures many newcomers to the shop remain regulars, and hopefully will continue to visit and draw upon the team’s knowledge for years to come.

Read the full 2025 edition of Inspirational Cheese Retailers here.