Choose Cheese Campaign

Once again the WFU has forged ahead with the Campaign for British Cheese; a joint initiative between WFU and the Cheese Board. Despite bad weather conditions all summer the ladies donned their ‘uniforms’ and sallied forth to promote a huge range of top quality British Cheese.

Devon members Ann Cork, left, and Valerie Ellett, samples of cheese to visitors to the
Honiton Show in the summer.

A total arena of 600,000 people throughout the UK saw stands set up, cheese portions sliced and the target group of C1 and C2 type of consumer was confronted by delicious tastings of this nation’s tastiest cheeses. The response was hugely satisfying – there is a strong and affirmed loyalty to our home produced cheeses especially good old Cheddar and Stilton with Somerset Brie romping in with an overwhelming popularity and appreciation of its good value for money.

The cheese-makers were all extremely generous with the amount of cheese for tastings 1500 kg and 29 varieties were tasted at a total 30 events over 51 promotional days in 14 counties from Cornwall to Scotland and Wales to East Anglia.

Food fairs, late night shopping, balloon festivals, school visits and shows, all attracted our target consumers who appreciated being able to taste-test cheese without the expense of purchasing a larger, not to their specific taste. Consumers were keen to learn about the origin, production and availability of each regional cheese. New ways to eat and cook with cheese were put forward and recipes and information were willingly taken home.

Age was no barrier to the enjoyment of the cheese with many children surprising themselves by trying new flavours and gleefully going home to adjust the shopping list! The more elderly consumer was very interested in the lower fat versions for health reasons and it was an ideal opportunity to promote cheese in the correct portion size for strong bones and nutritional value.

The results of these activities have shown that there is still much work to be done to promote our British produce. By focussing on specific target markets, whilst working alongside the British Cheese Board; the WFU’s ability to communicate with all sectors of society and its age groups, has proven to be one of the most efficient means of communicating information whilst continuing to educate potential Cheese Lovers.

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