At Speciality Food we’re delighted that cheese has become such a focal point of consumers’ dining occasions in the last two years.
Whether strewn across a board with crackers, fruit and chutney as part of a grazing platter, bubbled on a stove into a fondue, or wheeled out in great hunks for cheese tasting dinner parties – it’s become a massive part of the ‘eating in’ trend.
Retailers report a whole new, younger demographic visiting their stores throughout the year. Could this translate into a bumper Christmas in 2025? It’s very possible.
As readers will know, December is always naturally the busiest time for selling, so, with new potential customers in the mix this season, it pays to get ahead.
We spoke to some of the UK’s cheese experts and retailers to find out what helps them thrive through Christmas trading. Let us guide you with their handy checklist.
1. Stock up
Make sure you have enough cheese, and that if you haven’t already done so, you’re ordering now. With certain cheeses from Europe off the cards this Christmas due to Lumpy Skin Disease, there’s more pressure than usual on cheesemakers to deliver this year.
Camilla Marshall Lovsey at The Cambridge Cheese Company says the team significantly increases the shop’s range in the weeks leading to Christmas, introducing new products from late September, giving customers a chance to discover and taste them in a more relaxed environment.
“Many of our customers return year after year (of not week after week) so stocking exciting, new goodies is key to keeping interest. We’re also dedicated to seasonality, so our range changes with the months of the year, and many of our favourites are winter made cheeses, so their return is often much anticipated by staff and customers alike.”
Staff are always astounded, she adds, by the volume of cheese that flies out the door in the two weeks before Christmas. “It’s at least 20 times what we would sell during a sunny summer’s day. To say our walk-in fridge and cheese decks are full to the brim would be an understatement!”
Cheese expert, author and judge, Steve Parker, reminds retailers to exercise caution when it comes to novelty varieties – particularly in a speciality, artisan setting. “There’s a temptation to get lots of novelty cheeses, when 90% of customers are coming in asking for Brie, Cheddar and Stilton. Make sure you have lots of those in stock. During my first Christmas in my shop I was staggered. You won’t see some customers all year, then suddenly they come in wanting a 3kg wheel of Brie. For me, it’s not the time to experiment.”
2. Pay attention to trends
What cheese lovers want changes all the time, especially today, when social media influencers can swifty turn public opinion on a dime – just look at the rise to stardom of cottage cheese.
As well as your trusted customer favourites and classics, it is worth dipping your toes into trends, provided you market and promote anything new effectively so it doesn’t end up stuck in the counter.
Nick Birchall of The Cheese Shop in Nantwich says indulgence is something everyone should be thinking about when planning their Christmas cheese counters. “Anything with truffle will fly out, like Truffled Baron Bigod – load those up. Also creamy, rich, fatty cheeses like Delice de Bourgogne.
“We get in lots of Alp Blossom because it’s pretty, and people like it. Another lovely one for Christmas is Drunken Monk from Belgium. And, for goodness sake, get lots of boozy cheese in. We have a great goats’ cheese from Spain, washed in Oloroso sherry. It’s absolutely drenched in sherry and a really big hit for us.”
Individual cheeses should be a consideration at Christmas as well – ideal for gifting. “Those baby Baron Bigods or baby Stinking Bishops are fab. You don’t need to spend time cutting them up.”
“We’ve noticed a tangible shift towards buying sustainably made, ethical cheeses, as well as those either made or matured locally,” says Camilla. “More customers than ever want to hear about the back story of each cheese, the dairy, how the animals are living, and what they eat.”
As well as a focus on these types of cheeses this year, Camilla thinks it’s worth, if you have space, practising the art of affinage on site to offer your customers something truly different and unique. “We are lucky enough to have a vast cellar underneath our shop in which we mature our entire range of cheese. We also mature about a dozen very exclusive cheeses for Christmas for three to five years, which become our festive specials and instantly become best-sellers. Our famous Dragon Slayer, Cambridge Gumburner and festive Old Weydeland change in flavour year on year but are always favourites.”
3. Make those displays sing
We all eat with our eyes. And bountiful, alluring displays both in the window and inside your shop will guide shoppers through your door. The Cambridge Cheese Company changes every inch of retail space as December approaches. “This is partly to make space for our new lines, but it also encourages customers to discover new parts of the shop which they might not have ventured to before,” says Camilla. “So many get mesmerised by the soft cheese deck at the front that they never even make it to the back section, which is filled with treasure too.”
The shop’s interior and window displays, she adds, are designed to give shoppers ideas of how to build hampers or create interesting
food gifts.
Nick says his shop’s counters will be “groaning” under the weight of cheese, and thinks demonstrating an extended collection in your displays is a fantastic way to attract customers new and old. In terms of decor, they like to keep it simple. “We have a huge, and I mean huge, 5ft wreath in the window, but we don’t tend to put too many Christmassy things around the cheese, because they can take over. Our door is beautiful, with a big swag outside, but in the shop, we want to keep those nice clean lines.”
4. Manage staffing now
The biggest mistake cheesemongers make (usually those newer to the industry) is underestimating staffing at Christmas, says Steve. “Think about it now – don’t wait until the third week of November to put an ad in the window. Uni students are home at the moment, get them signed up now, and try to do advance training if you can, so they know how to pronounce, cut and serve the cheeses.”
Work out which day of the week Christmas falls on (which he admits sounds silly) now too, Steve says. “Be on top of those rotas, because everyone who works for you is going to want to go Christmas shopping at some point. You can’t expect them to be available every day from the 18th to 24th of December. I used to publish my rota in September so staff knew what they were doing.”
Plan for additional staff between Christmas and New Year as well – when a lot of restocking will need
to be done.
Nick invests in a band of merry ‘Christmas elves’ to help operations run smoothly in December. “We’ve got a good team of existing counter staff who all know they’re going to be busy the week before Christmas,” he explains, “then we have a specialist Christmas team working upstairs, wrapping all the hampers. Wrapping takes forever and having those three ladies come in makes all the difference.”
5. Give customers a taste of Christmas
You might start holding back on regular tasting events as the cooler months roll in, but don’t give up on special events or tastings completely, our experts say. They can help you fill orders much earlier in advance.
“It’s of colossal importance to open orders early,” says Camilla. “This helps us manage our staff levels, ensure we have enough stock, and gives customers the confidence that we are prepared, organised and will get them exactly what they need, when they need it!” She continues. “We take so much joy in talking about our products to customers and allowing them to try as much as they can eat while they visit. It’s hard to give an extensive description and endless samples when the shop is packed, so allowing customers to learn what they love in advance is helpful for them and us, and ensures they head home with the cheeseboard of their dreams for Christmas Day.”
Most of The Cheese Shop Nantwich’s events halt ahead of Christmas, though they do have some tricks up their sleeves, Nick says, including Christmas cheese and wine pairings in November and early December. “We get lots of sales from those. We’ll have guest cheesemakers in every weekend in November and December, showcasing their cheeses, so people can sample them and get their orders in. The we need the room to start making up those hampers!”
6. Keep that Christmas queue happy
On the whole, cheese lovers are quite content to queue for an hour or two to collect their annual haul – some even consider it a kind of urban sport, laughs Steve, regaling others with how long they’ve committed themselves to this very British pastime.
Handing out samples is imperative to keep spirits high. “I was lucky to have a big shop, so the queue would be inside, and my role was to make sure I spoke to every customer,” Steve says. “We’d hand out cheese samples, and open a bottle of something, pouring out little cups, saying sorry for the wait. Offer people a drink and they’ll love you. If you’re lucky, they’ll buy wine too when they get to the counter!”
Nick says he and the team ‘queue comb’. As soon as the door opens, they call out to see if anyone’s got a pre-order. If so, they’re brought to the front so they can pay separately and get out, without queuing. “We use a separate card machine so we can take payment for everything that’s already made up.”
The average queue time at Christmas at The Cheese Shop is around an hour, and Nick has to remind staff to pace service gently, giving the same traditional service they’re known for year-round. After all, for some this will be their sole visit to the shop in the year. “I always say to them, ‘for goodness sake, don’t look out the window because you’ll panic. Concentrate on the person in front of you. Be mindful of time you’re spending with them, but don’t rush them through. You’ve got to create that excitement and level of customer support’.”
It’s a fine balance, he admits. “Every customer is different, and every member of staff works slightly differently. The main thing is to be polite, and always, always wish them a happy Christmas. It’s meant to be a jolly time, but people get so stressed rushing around. We want to make their experience with us as pleasurable as possible.”
Finally, says Camilla, smile! “Team morale is the number one priority at Christmas, as this is what most heavily affects customer experience. We all feel so lucky to be cheesemongers, working in such an extraordinary shop, and every member of our tiny team is passionate and enthusiastic, so we’re confident in our service. We hope that our positivity can brighten the days of even the busiest customer, and a queue isn’t so bad when they leave with a bag of delicious,
artisan cheese!”
7. Plan for ‘betwixtmas’
The funny period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve can be quite discombobulating (“what day is it again?”) but in the world of cheese it’s essential (after the turkey’s eaten, the Port downed) to do a shop reset, ready for everyone’s party plans.
Nick says he always keeps a bit of stock back for after Boxing Day, ready for New Year’s Eve. “We have a tick list database of all the cheeses. When they come in we tick off how much of each cheese is needed for pre-orders, take those off, then split the cellar in two. One set of shelves is for orders, and another set is for the shop so we’re not pinching someone’s Christmas cheese – we try not to rob Peter to pay Paul – and we plan in fresh cheese deliveries after Boxing Day so we’re ready to go when we open.”
Dining and Cooking