4 steps to prepare your cheese shop for Christmas

1. Make sure you have enough staff. You don’t have to hire lots of cheesemongers because they are difficult to find, but you can supplement your core team with runners who can take orders, take in deliveries, restock shelves and prepare hampers the night before for orders that are being collected the next day. 

2. Make space at the counter. Move some of the non-seasonal cheeses to a back fridge or a different display. They’re still there if customers want them, but you have more room in your display fridge for the extra Stilton or the extra Roquefort or your big wheels of clothbound Cheddar. 

3. Encourage preordering where you can. Advertise that early on so that customers can come in to choose their cheese in the early days of November or late November. Have a separate queue and give customers a time slot to collect their cheeses. This means you’re breaking down the queue and you don’t have a big rush of people right before Christmas. 

4. Don’t overlook your staff. A cheesemonger is a lovely environment to work in, but they do get tired, so look after your team. Give them their breaks and make sure that they have plenty of food – not just cheese, but give them free food and free drinks as refreshments during the day. And lots of chocolate!