You asked, and we listened! Due to numerous customer requests, we are happy to announce to launch of White One-Ply - our best-selling One-Ply cheese paper, now available in plain white and Formaticum-branded white. This new colorway is available as rolls or sheets, in a variety of sizes, and is in stock and ready to ship. 

We also wanted to take this opportunity to re-introduce you to our full line of bulk wrapping materials, which is expansive and can feel overwhelming at first glance. This guide is meant to demystify our selection and help you choose the material that best fits your needs, and your cheese. We understand that every cheese is unique and therefore needs a unique storage solution, which is why our offerings span a variety of materials and colors. We hope the below information is helpful, but please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly at wholesale@formaticum.com with any additional questions or concerns. 

We strongly recommend requesting sample sheets of any new material before ordering a full case. We encourage you to perform extended testing in your specific environment to ensure satisfactory performance of the material. We are happy to provide ample samples of any of our materials, as customer satisfaction is our main goal. 

*Note: Our plastic-free wrapping materials were launched with the intention of providing a plastic-free alternative for those who wanted to reduce the amount of plastic waste they produce, but still be able to preserve their cheese as effectively as possible. While these products do prevent plastic from ending up in a landfill, there is of course a slight tradeoff in performance, as unfortunately plastic is still the most effective material for cheese storage and preservation. 

ONE-PLY
Available in brown, white, and Formaticum-branded sheets and rolls.
One-Ply paper is classic cheese packaging 2.0, the same material our best-selling Cheese Storage Bags are made of. Based on the same concept of our flagship Two-Ply, this material is composed of brown paper sprayed with a polyethylene coating. One-Ply is porous enough to allow cheese to breathe while retaining the proper humidity to ensure optimal storage conditions. This durable professional-grade packaging is our most versatile material, and is suitable for all sales environments. 
Best for: washed rinds, natural rinds & aged cheeses, but good for all cheese types. 

TWO-PLY
Available in plain white, plain brown, or Formaticum-branded white sheets. 
Our Two-Ply Cheese Storage paper was the material we first started importing in 2006, and is commonly used in Europe's best cheese shops. Composed of an ultra thin sheet of low density polyethylene laminated to pure fiber paper, allows cheese to breathe and maintains the delicate balance of humidity required to prevent cheese from drying out.
Best for: washed rinds, natural rinds & aged cheeses, but good for all cheese types. 

ZERO
Available in plain white sheets or white sheets with green Formaticum branding. 
Formaticum Zero is compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable. Made of paper sourced from certified sustainable forests, this plastic-free material has a special cellulose-based coating that makes it greaseproof and porous to oxygen, making it an ideal packaging solution for aged cheese and charcuterie. 
Best for: drier, aged cheeses and washed rinds, but good for all cheese types. 

REUSABLE SHEETS
Available in plain white sheets or heavy-duty black sheets.
This reusable material uses 40% less plastic than other plastic-based materials. It is composed of 40% calcium carbonate and 60% polyethylene, making it 100% recyclable. It protects against dehydration while regulating gas and water exchange, preserving cheese longer and reducing waste. The sheets can be reused after washing in warm soapy water and air drying. 
Best for: all cheese types but especially great for blue cheese and butter.

GREASEPROOF SHEETS
Available in plain white sheets. 
Greaseproof sheets are plastic-free, compostable, and biodegradable. This paper performs very important functions: it allows the cheese to breathe and maintains the delicate balance of humidity required to prevent cheese from drying out. This paper is manufactured in France specifically for cheese and is used by many of the finest French cheese, butter, and charcuterie purveyors. 
Best for: blue cheese, butter, and charcuterie, but good for washed rinds as well. 

SUPER WAX
Available in plain white sheets.
Super Wax sheets are made with a vegetable-based wax coating on both sides of the sheet, and both sides of the paper are suitable for food contact. This paper is manufactured in France specifically for cheese and is used by many of the finest French cheese purveyors. 
Best for: blue cheese and butter, but good for washed rinds and sheep’s milk cheeses as well. 

BROWN ALIOS
Available in plain brown sheets. 
Brown Alios is plastic-free, making it compostable, biodegradable, and recyclable. This French brown Kraft paper has Alios stripes to give a classic French presentation. The light vegetable wax coating makes this plastic-free material greaseproof yet porous to oxygen, making it an ideal packaging solution.
Best for: blue cheese, washed rinds, aged cheese, butter, and charcuterie.

CELLOPHANE
Available in clear sheets.
This transparent material is made specifically for wrapping cheese by our manufacturer in France. Our Cellophane is derived from wood-based cellulose fibers designed to be permeable to moisture and allow oxygen exchange. Its porous properties are especially ideal for bloomy and geotrichum-rinded cheeses. This Cellophane is not treated with any plasticizers, is 100% biodegradable, and can be composted in a commercial facility.
Best for: bloomy rinds & geotrichum rinds, but good for blue cheese and washed rinds as well.

PERFORATED CELLOPHANE
Available in clear sheets.
This transparent material is made specifically for wrapping cheese by our manufacturer in France. It is derived from wood-based cellulose fibers designed to be permeable to moisture and allow oxygen exchange. Micro perforations make these sheets great for geotrichum candidum-rinded cheeses that like extra airflow to keep rinds healthy and happy. These sheets are not a good fit for penicillium candidum that can grow through the perforations. Cellophane is not treated with any plasticizers, and is 100% biodegradable. Please note that these sheets have visible micro perforations.  
Best for: geotrichum-rinded cheeses. 

For more information on our materials, the ordering process, and custom printing, please visit our FAQ page or contact us at wholesale@formaticum.com. 

Chef Anthony Bourdain once famously said, "You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese." Sharing a good piece of cheese with a partner, family member, good friend, or even a stranger is one of the highest acts of love, in our opinion, and Valentine's Day is the perfect opportunity to do so. Many customers will inevitably ask for "your most romantic cheese" in anticipation of the holiday, and we wanted to provide a few suggestions and talking points for what we here at Formaticum consider to be romantic cheeses! 

The mythical origin story of Gorgonzola and many other blue cheeses is one of the most well-known pieces of cheese-related lore, but never fails to entertain a customer. According to legend, a cheesemaker who had just finished the evening milking was distracted by his lover, and came back the next morning to the milk still in the vat. In an attempt to hide his indiscretion, he added the morning milking to the vat and covered the evening milk, which of course contained some very active bacteria after its night in the vat. The result was a cheese containing blue mold, which was discovered to be very delicious, and the rest is history. In this case, an act of love actually helped invent a brand new cheese! 

Soft, creamy cheeses hold a romantic place in history as well. In 774, the Emperor Charlemagne was visiting a monastery where the monks were busy making an unfamiliar soft cheese with a bloomy white rind, which would come to be known as Brie de Meaux. Charlemagne fell in love with this cheese with his first bite, and demanded that it be sent to him annually from then on. He wasn't the only royalty to fall in love with Brie - King Louis XVI's dying wish was to have one last bite of Brie! 

Soft cheeses like Brie and triple creams are the perfect pairing with bubbly beverages like Champagne, Prosecco, or non-alcoholic sparkling cider. They also contain high levels of phenylethylamine, known colloquially as the "love drug," which causes the body to produce dopamine and feelings of contentment. 

Cheddar itself is a universally loved cheese, but did you know that America's first cheese factory was opened in 1951 by a husband and wife team? Jesse Williams is generally credited with opening the factory, but his wife Amanda was also a well-known cheesemaker at the time, and the factory was known for producing cheddar.

There is also something very romantic about the continued preservation of centuries of cheese history. The image of farmers leading their herds of flower- and bell-adorned cows down from mountain pastures is almost synonymous with mountain or Alpine cheeses like Beaufort, Gruyère, and even Ossau Iraty, presenting a romanticized perception of the time-honored tradition of transhumance.

And sometimes, we love a cheese so much that we simply don't want to share it with anyone, For many people, this cheese is aged Gouda - these cheeses contain tyrosine crystals, which encourage the body to produce dopamine and epinephrine, creating feelings of euphoria. They're part of the reason why we love cheese so much! 

Providing proper care is an important act of love towards cheese. So, whichever cheese your customers choose to share with their loved ones, remember to wrap it in Formaticum cheese paper to keep it in the best possible condition. Browse our bulk wrapping material selection or email wholesale@formaticum.com to request a wholesale account. 

In early January, as the dust settles after the holidays and the crowds of cheese lovers dissipate, you may find yourself with some extra cheese in the case. Perhaps you ordered one too many wheels of Raclette, or you couldn't quite sell through that last wheel of Comté. Instead of letting it sit lonely in your case for a few more weeks, try introducing some added-value products to help move it out faster and get it into baskets and stomachs. 

While holiday catering orders are probably waning, the single-serve cheese plate is a perennial favorite and a great way to utilize extra cheese or accoutrements you have on hand. Formaticum's Faux Slate Trays are the perfect way to package and display a grab and go platter for a snack option, customers who need something quick to bring to a dinner party, or even the ever-relevant "girl dinner". 

One of our favorite ways to utilize excess cheese is the in-house cheese blend. The convenience of not having to grate or shred their own cheese is something that most customers are willing to pay extra for, especially if they don't also have to choose their own cheeses for the blend when the post-holiday decision fatigue has fully set in.

Use this opportunity to offer a House Mac & Cheese Blend or Fondue Kit that utilizes the cheeses you need to sell through. Formaticum Cheese Storage Bags are the perfect way to package your shreds and keep them fresher, longer! (Available in retail cartons or bulk cases of 500 bags.)

You can even elevate this offering by including a recipe like this one from our friends at Gourmino: 

Fondue for 4: 

1lb (appetizer) or 2lb (main course) TOTAL blend of shredded cheese 

2 tbsp corn starch 

1.5 cups dry pear cider or dry white wine 

1 clove garlic 

5 pinches sea salt 

3 tsp fresh lemon juice 

To Finish: 1-2 oz of Kirsch, freshly ground pepper to taste, a few pinches of fresh nutmeg

Grate all the cheese into a bowl and gently mix in the cornstarch. In a saucepan or fondue pot on the stove, heat the cider or white wine to a gentle simmer. Grate the garlic clove into the liquid, to taste, then add in lemon juice and sea salt and stir to combine.

Slowly whisk in handfuls of the grated cheese mix over steady low-medium heat, adding another handful once the cheese has melted. Be sure to whisk continuously to avoid clumps. Once the cheese is totally incorporated and brought back up to temp, it should have a velvety smooth consistency. Adjust the consistency with more pear cider/ wine if it is too thick, or a little more cheese if it's too thick.

Remove from heat and transfer to a fondue pot over a half-open Sterno can. Adjust seasoning with salt, to taste, add in a splash of Kirch and gently stir. Grate fresh nutmeg and a pinch of black pepper to serve. Serve with crusty bread, apple slices, sausage, pears, and your favorite roasted root vegetables. Enjoy! (And don't forget to store your leftover cheese in Formaticum Cheese Storage Bags.)

Do you have a favorite way to use leftover holiday cheese? Let us know by emailing wholesale@formaticum.com! 

As the holiday season quickly approaches, we know that many of our customers will be hosting cheese-focused classes, tastings, catering events, and more in the coming weeks. Here at Formaticum, we love to see all of your cheese education efforts, and have come up with a way to support you in the best way we know how to - by providing professional cheese storage to your event attendees! 

As a part of the Formaticum Event Partnership Program, you can select any of our best-selling retail cheese storage products to offer as a complimentary add-on to your class or tasting. In return, we would expect the instructor or host of the event to briefly present and explain the product, as well as provide an explanation of Formaticum's mission and some of our professional cheese care and storage tips. The program also includes a personalized Formaticum discount code for all of your guests, as well as a welcome discount for your first wholesale order with us.

For a full list of offerings and expectations, please reach out to us at wholesale@formaticum.com 

Unsure of the best way to incorporate Formaticum products into your event, or unfamiliar with our full product line? Here are some suggestions! 

Cheese 101: Our Cheese Log is the perfect addition to a Cheese 101 class, allowing your guests to take notes on each cheese they taste and keep track of their favorites for future purchases. Our Cheese Storage Bags are also an ideal offering for Cheese 101 students, as they are versatile, easy to use, and provide the best possible environment to keep their cheese looking and tasting as fresh as possible. 

Cheese & Charcuterie Board Building: Treat your guests to a package of our greaseproof Board Liners to elevate their display and add a seasonal touch to any cheese plate! 

Cheesemonger's Choice or Cheese 102: More advanced cheese classes are the perfect opportunity to teach your attendees how to wrap cheese like a cheesemonger - include a package of Cheese Storage Paper and a wrapping tutorial so that your guests leave the class knowing how to wrap cheese so beautifully, they could put a bow on it as a holiday gift. 

Earth Day/Sustainability: Ad an eco-friendly touch to your next Earth Day class by explaining how our plastic-free and compostable Zero Cheese Storage Bags & Sheets or our new Reusable Cheese Storage Bags & Sheets can help reduce waste while preserving your cheese. 

Of course, our team of seasoned cheese professionals is here to help and ready to provide exceptional guidance and customer service for all of your cheese storage needs. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions - and thank you for your interest in spreading the word about proper cheese care and storage with Formaticum!