What the UK can learn from Parisian cheesemongers

We learned about the ‘country of cheese’ from the people who love and know it best, including how to best display fine cheeses and even how to stand out in such a crowded marketplace. Here, Speciality Food shares two of its most valuable take aways:

Treasure your cheese
It was clear from every stop that Parisian cheesemongers adore the product they sell, but some of the retailers we visited took this up a notch by displaying their stock like treasures. Fromagerie Griffon is an example of this, with its tempting window display suggestive of confectioners’ windows, and the shelves within laden with perfect examples of the craft of cheesemaking. Some of the cheeses were jewelled with candied fruit, dried herbs and petals which adds to the occasion.

Put accompaniments in the foreground
While great cheese sings when served alone, the right accompaniment can make it into even more of an occasion. However, all too often accompaniments are demoted to the back of the shop due to their long shelf lives. By contrast, Fromagerie Griffon piled its counter high with glistening preserves and house-made cheese biscuits and wafers, meaning that no customer would make a purchase without being tempted by an accompaniment to the cheese they bought. Meanwhile, COW’s accompaniments were placed by the entrance/exit in order to remind customers pre-and post-purchase of the joy of a well-chosen partner for their cheese.

Be brave
While the French cheese industry is renowned across the world – with good reason – for its domestic classics such as Roquefort, Brie de Meaux and Comté, it’s by stepping away from tradition and opting to source products from across the globe that put Cheese of the World (COW), located on the capital’s Boulevard Saint-Germain, on the map. Its founders report that, while the country’s cheese industry didn’t have much confidence for this new format with its pioneering international outlook, consumers were excited by the prospect of shopping for cheeses from other countries on their doorstop. Founding partners Alexandre Renault and Antoine Farge responded to customer demand, brushing aside industry naysayers, to great aplomb, and cheese lovers from Paris and beyond celebrate their bravery.