How to start a cheese business

Britain’s artisan cheese industry has a rich history that grows ever more exciting as more fresh-eyed, passionate cheese lovers join the sector. “New cheesemakers and cheesemongers seem to appear every year. And it is a thing to be celebrated,” says Andy Swinscoe, co-owner of The Courtyard Dairy.

For the sector to grow larger and more diverse can only be a good thing. “It improves those of us already out there, it increases knowledge levels throughout the industry, it gives different opinions and it gives all farmhouse and artisan cheese a greater coverage for the general public to be aware of it.” 

Indeed, the more that the broader public sees of British cheese – whether it be a tangy Cheddar, an oozing Brie-style round or a flavoursome goats’ milk cheese – the more likely they will be to appreciate the hard work and heritage imbued in this craft.

How do you start a small business in the cheese industry?

If you’re a cheese lover who wants to turn their passion or hobby into a full-time gig, getting started may feel overwhelming. We’ve spoken to three cheese industry insiders to find out their tips for starting a cheese business.

Location, location, location

When setting up a new cheese counter, location is everything. “For any new cheesemonger I’d think about where you want to set up. Selling farmhouse cheese is difficult, and with the decline of towns due to parking issues, closures of banks and services and competition from the convenience of supermarket and online shopping, you are really going to have to think about why people will come to you,” says Andy.

“I’d look for somewhere with a shopping food culture already (wine/fishmongers/butchers/bakers), good parking and that has good footfall,” he says.

Tom Brady opened his shop Star Plain in Holt, Norfolk, in May 2021 inspired by his passion for cheese and knowledge of the area. “I’m determined to make a goats’ cheese on the north Norfolk coast, but as this was a complete change from a fashion wholesale career, I decided to take the mid step of opening a cheese shop, as I have always been passionate about cheese and would then have at least one outlet to sell from,” he explains.

When he opened the shop in 2021, Holt was a new area for him, but he had a good understanding of the average north Norfolk customer and other businesses in the area. “There is a local consumer who wants to invest in quality food and wine. I chose Holt specifically as it was, in my opinion, the best chance of a year-round business; being so close to the coast, it can go very, very quiet in the first quarter of the year,” he says. 

And Tom was well aware of the risk of positioning the business around seasonal holidaymakers – for reasons relating both to sales and the building a relationship with the local community. “I’ve always looked to serve the local market primarily, and then if our offer appeals to visitors they would be a bonus,” he says. Without putting everyday locals first, “you risk alienating your local customers and just being a six-month business in this area.”

Once you’ve chosen a location, there are still numerous hurdles to overcome, from securing a retail premises to fitting it out with all the necessary cheese kit. But even for a fixer-upper there are ways to keep costs low. “The building we chose had the bones of a good business but had been empty for four years and was very tatty and unloved,” Tom says. “Given the products we sell are well branded, start-up costs were kept low by keeping it fairly clean and classically decorated, with the addition of a few bespoke pieces: Alex May Hughes ‘CHEESE’ sign and gold leaf painted glass gave the space a unique character.”

For more information on everything from choosing your equipment to making cheeses look their best with positioning and labelling tips, read Speciality Food’s complete guide to displaying cheese.

Selecting cheeses to stock

Next, you’ll need to consider your cheese range. According to Gemma Williams of The Little Cheesemonger, who has been selling cheese for more than 15 years, balance is key. “You need to have a good, even range so not too heavy on the Cheddar cheese and not too heavy on the blue cheese.”

She also suggests new mongers stock their shops with some of the “easy sellers – the stuff that everybody likes”. These can include classic cheeses from the Continent or well-loved British favourites. “That’s your bread and butter, and then as time goes on and you get more confident, you can stretch out into the lesser-known ones,” Gemma says.

Andy believes that a good cheese professional doesn’t need many cheeses to make an impact. “As long as you have a good range across the cheese types and they are high quality, then you can have low numbers. We started with just 15. The key thing is when you don’t have what the customer wants, don’t rush to get it in, try and learn what it is and what they are after, and give them a taste of what you do which is similar.”

If you’re new to the world of cheese, working with well-known suppliers may offer in-roads to valuable relationships, training and expertise. Tom strongly recommends visiting your supplier for training sessions so you can absorb as much knowledge as possible. Despite working with a large supplier from the start, because he opened his shop in the Covid era, training opportunities and visits weren’t available. “I was googling how to wrap cheese the night before we opened as I had absolutely no experience in this sector, so whilst I’m proud to have been able to overcome so many challenges, I would have loved the chance to get some knowledge; I struggled to sleep the first week as I worried about the cheese in the counter, purely as I didn’t have any experience to fall back on,” he explains.

Today, the shop works with an array of suppliers, and when planning their range, Tom studies their marketing send outs and takes their recommendations on board. He believes it’s important to keep an open mind about new cheeses – “If we love it, then our customers will too,” he says – but while it may be tempting to try every new cheese you come across, it’s important that you don’t change your range too often, as customers (and staff) like consistency. “Building out quarterly ranges and offering a ‘move on cheese’ keeps things interesting and planned changes clear for staff and customers,” Tom says.

While wholesalers offer a great starting point, cheesemongers should build relationships with local and national cheesemakers too, so don’t discount the importance of working directly with farms near you or with cheesemakers you admire. Find out more about how to champion brilliant cheeses in our full guide to sourcing cheese.

Showcasing your USP

An essential element of opening any new shop is working out your unique selling point – what makes you different in a sea of competitors? Before you open, consider what your emphasis could be as a cheesemonger. Which types of cheeses will you be selling? A wide range or a curated selection? “Raw milk, farmhouse, local, or just more convenience/weekly cheese shop – although I’d argue that the supermarkets have that last category tied up pretty well,” Andy says. “Whatever it is, write it down and stick to it when sourcing your lines; that is what you want to be, so try to make sure it shows through.”

Then, you’ll need to promote the USP of your artisan cheese business. “If it is local, shout about it. If it is raw milk or farmhouse, then make it clear so the prospective customers know why you’re different.”

Keep what makes your business special top of mind – but beware of overthinking it. “Whilst being aware of the competition is important, I’ve found that businesses can get too obsessed over what someone else is doing,” Tom says. “I generally just focus on what we offer – change things up if something starts underperforming and use a broad range of suppliers so your stock doesn’t look like any other independent.”

Star Plain’s focus is simply to offer the local community a broad range of local, Italian and French cheeses that aren’t readily available elsewhere. “We order cheese in for customers where possible and love to learn about new cheese from the locals; they’re mostly well-travelled so have lots of knowledge themselves,” Tom says.

Get familiar with your balance sheet

Choosing cheeses to stock or serving samples to customers might be the part of running a cheese shop you’re looking forward to most, but as with any business you’ll need to get to grips with your incomings and outgoings. “Don’t forget margins are tight in food retail, and there isn’t a lot to play with once all your overheads are dealt with,” Andy says.

You’ll also need to consider losses that are inherent to artisanal cheeses, Gemma adds. “When you’re pricing up, don’t forget that cheese evaporates. It’s only slow, but when you’ve bought it on the weight, if you don’t cut into that immediately and sell it all immediately you are going to lose a little bit of money because it evaporates, and then you will need to condition it.

“Cheese needs a little bit of prep each day, because the edges get dry and you need to trim,” she continues. “You’ll also need to give samples to customers. If you’re having cut cheeses, you are losing a bit more money if you don’t make sure that is budgeted in for.”

To diversify or not to diversify?

Getting your cheese business up and running is the first order of business, but it’s always worth considering how you might go above and beyond a cheese counter in the future. Coming up with multiple revenue streams will increase your likelihood of creating a profitable artisan cheese business. “You can’t just rely on people walking through the door,” Gemma says. 

Star Plains has an in-house café, and Tom says the team uses as much cheese in the products there as possible. “Customers will frequently then come to shop the cheese to take home too.” Adding a café or restaurant to your retail offering is a big investment, but for Star Plains it has worked well, filling a gap in the food options available in the area. “This also allowed us to be better balanced and offset the risk of the quiet days in retail trade,” Tom says. “Rain might put people off shopping, but they will come in for an Ogleshield or Binham Blue Toastie.” 

If a café is a step too far, start small with store cupboard items or fresh fruit and veg from a local supplier. But even here there is a risk of doing too much too soon, as Tom learned. “Looking back, we definitely over-expanded our provisions offer too early, as we had too many choices and not enough stock depth to have availability on best sellers. I would recommend adding options gradually and focus on retailing them as best as possible – good signage, good shelf space and products set up online – then include them in a newsletter in case customers haven’t seen in store,” he suggests.

Another natural next step for cheese lovers could be experimenting with making or ageing your own cheeses. “You need to have multiple revenue streams to be able to survive, so going into production could be a great idea,” Gemma says. “There are not that many cheese producers that are small and independent. These are the ones that are really special.”

How do you start a cheese production business?

If you’re a cheese lover who is more interested in setting up a new cheesemaking business than a retail shop, Andy advises asking lots of questions before you start making any decisions.

“What cheese do you want to make? It has to be something you like first and foremost, as it will make the whole process more enjoyable, and also, does that particular ‘make’ procedure fit easily into your day? What equipment is needed for start up, and how long will the cheese need to mature? How much cheese will you need to have in stock and what is its shelf life once it is ready? Can you afford that on your cash flow with no income for that period, and can you sell it fast enough once it’s ripe?”

Once you’ve considered these questions, Andy suggests a new cheesemaker should test out their product with trial batches at home – you don’t need a cheese factory to get started, and there are plenty of books on cheesemaking available to help you learn the basics of the processes for creating a range of cheeses, including soft and hard cheese. From the role of rennet to defining curd, whey and the all-important starter culture, reading up on cheesemaking is a good starting point.

Making cheese through trial and error can also help a budding artisan cheese professional master the basics. “Even before you go on a professional cheesemaking course (The School Of Artisan Food is good), the more you can make at home before you go on a course will mean you will get more out of it when you do decide to go on one.”

Whether you’re starting a cheesemaking business on a dairy farm or setting up your first fine cheese shop, having a business plan is crucial. Gemma suggests looking into local business advice schemes. “Wales has [one] that you can go to ask for free advice and resources. They are fabulous, I’ve tapped into them many, many times. It’s an amazing resource to get hold of. You can’t go into it blind; you need to make projections, you need to look into the future and you need to think how much money you will take every week, and how much cheese you need to sell to pay the electricity bill, when you need staff – it all has to be planned out to the minute details,” Gemma says. 

For artisan cheesemakers, start-up costs will be high, and you’ll need to plan for them. “Starting up a new cheese dairy is an investment; the cheapest ready fix nowadays seems to be purpose-built shipping containers. But if you can mitigate this big investment initially and hire out space in someone else’s dairy or food production unit that is a great way to reduce the start-up costs,” Andy says.

Starting a new cheesemaking business is no mean feat. For many makers and mongers in the British cheese industry, it is their passion that carries them through. “You’ve got to really love cheese,” Gemma says. “You’ve got to be obsessed with cheese, otherwise don’t bother because it’s not easy. I’ve been selling cheese for 15 years now, and I’m still excited about it all the time. And if I didn’t have that, when times are hard, like when Covid broke out, if you’re not passionate about it and about what you do, then you’re not going to be able to muster up the survival instinct to push through.”