This year is a Leap Year, meaning there is one extra day in February to sell cheese! If your customers are stuck in the same routine, week after week, buying the same quarter pound of the same cheese, it's time to help them Leap into something new for 2024.
Cheesemongers are the customers' tour guide through the cheese case! We've put together a list of some popular cheeses that could potentially be a gateway for your customer to try something similar that can help expand their palate and horizons.
If they like Humboldt Fog, offer them a taste of ash-ripened chèvre like Valençay, Selles-sur-Cher, or Blakesville Creamery Linedeline.
If they like Midnight Moon, have them taste Brabander or OG Ghoast.
If they like Manchego, suggest Ossau Iraty, Pecorino Sardo, Zamorano, or a raw milk farmhouse Manchego.
If they like Delice de Bourgogne, recommend Brillat-Savarin, St. Stephen, or Nettle Meadow Kunik.
If they like fresh chèvre, try offering an aged goat cheese like Bucheron, Leonora, or Blakesville Creamery Lake Effect.
If they like block cheddar, suggest a raw milk block cheddar like Shelburne Farms Cheddar, or even a clothbound cheddar like Montgomery's Cheddar or Cabot Clothbound.
If they like Gruyère, suggest Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Comté, or Beaufort.
If they like Jarlsberg, have them taste the original Swiss cheese - authentic Emmentaler AOP.
If they like Beemster, offer a sample of L'Amuse Gouda, Jake's Aged Gouda, or OG Kristal.
If they like Stilton, offer Stichelton, Shropshire Blue, or Bayley Hazen Blue.
If they like Roquefort, try Fourme d'Ambert or Valdeon.
If they like Piave, suggest Sbrinz, KM 39, or Montasio.
Once you've successfully led your customer to their new favorite cheese, don't forget that you are still their cheese educator! Teach them how to properly care for their cheese that they spent so much time and effort selecting. Formaticum One-Ply paper is perfect for most styles of cheese and will keep it healthy in your customer's fridge so that the flavor stays as fresh as the day they tasted it in the shop. You can also recommend that they purchase a package of Formaticum Reusable Cheese Bags so that they always have professional cheese storage at their fingertips in the future.