“Land of cheese and money”

It is, then, with a delicious irony that we see the breakdown of the UK core retailers threatens the strength of the home speciality cheese market. Because a number, with a stupefying lack of long term logic, will follow their usual DNA behaviour and cut ranges, taking out the lower sellers simply because they are the lower sellers. An army of category advisers will recommend the space is filled with extended lines of yellow brick wall Cheddar, which equally ironically is in total market decline and as the price wars rage therefore returns lower and lower margins.

Add to that the reality that more outlets sell cheese than ever in the past five years. However, the growth is not in high class delis but in high street discounters selling low-cost Cheddar and simple territorials.

When all these outlets have a bland range which leaves the shopper unable to distinguish one from the other, the artisan speciality paralysis will be almost complete, because only a very few in major retailing, like Waitrose and Booths, have kept the faith and gone every yard of the way for 30 years or more, whilst others have drifted in and out.

A number have tried to retain the speciality perception, using the deli counter as their medium, with very mixed success. Amongst these, despite its troubles, Morrisons has made strides to maintain both quality and real point of difference, and its grab and go fresh market plus the option of service is entirely in-line with shopper trends. Others have tried pseudo hand-wrapped grab and go items in adjacent cabinets, sometimes in long life pre-packs masquerading as ‘fresh’.

This lack of availability, lack of choice, lack of specialism and premium, is diametrically opposed to what is now happening, as the facts show the shopper is gravitating to better cheeses – British and Continental – as the improved economy brings disposable cash back into the better cheese market. Certainly the shopper is more savvy than ever, but no one ever uninvented quality, and whilst doubtless there is always a case for rationalisation and refreshment in ranges, choice and premium probably affect 20% of the best spenders in the UK.

If proof were needed that roles are changing, Aldi and Lidl now stock extended regional speciality cheese at a time when the four majors are ditching range to meet their own agendas. I guess the consumer will decide who knows best.

No matter, as one door closes another opens, and after all the independent retailers have been open for business here for generations. Any relief from the predations of short term retailer artisan tourism is probably much welcomed, so they can rightly dominate what they have worked hard to create. The farm shops in particular seem to be doing well, although I am hearing that farmers markets are in many cases beginning to see a decline in sales and success.

Quietly there is both growth and opportunity in food service, as many of the most famous names begin to access both top private restaurants and even a number of chains, and both regional and national cheese distributors have played a major part in transferring artisan recognition to the food service channel.

So far we can see that the shopper has the money, and the UK has the cheese variety, but it’s where it will cross over in purchase and consumption that is the immediate challenge for many in the maker part of this trio of stakeholders.