For co-ops with a cheese category, the end-of-year holidays mean big opportunity. Customers are more willing to splurge — both with money and calories — and they’re looking to cheese for easy answers to their entertaining and gift-giving needs. If you provide the solutions, you’ll make the sale.
Use the following ideas to put together a holiday plan for your cheese set. When strategizing holiday cheese purchasing, focus on the following categories:
Triple crèmes
Triple crèmes are luscious, cream-enriched domestic cheeses that coat the palate. Some examples are Marin French Cheese Company’s triple-crème Brie, Saint Andre, Président Triple Crème and Saint Rocco. Use signage to suggest a sparkling wine marriage or create a gift basket with a whole triple crème, crackers and a bottle of sparkling organic pear juice.
Truffled cheeses
Truffle cheese is any type of cheese that has been flavored with truffles. Sales spike during the holidays on these aromatic cheeses, so offer multiple options like Montchevre Goat Cheese Truffles, Humboldt Fog, Cypress Grove’s Truffle Tremor or even a truffled Tuscan pecorino. Remind shoppers — either verbally or with signage — how easy it is to make glamorous hors d’oeuvres by melting truffled cheese on toast or a crusty square of polenta.
Splurges
The costly cheeses that make people flinch in July become welcome indulgences in December. Be sure to provide choices for shoppers who want that wow factor. Consider Vacherin du Haut Jura or L’Édel de Cléron from France, or Torta del Casar and Queso de la Serena from Spain. Dramatic cheeses make an impression at a dinner party when served whole or scooped from the container with a spoon. Brescianella Acquavite, a cow’s milk cheese from Lombardy coated in grape must, has a big flavor (and price), but its eye appeal and distinctiveness will make it sell during the holidays.
Traditions
Cheddar and Stilton are holiday must-haves, and other cheeses speak to tradition in many families. For Stilton enthusiasts, consider offering miniature wheels weighing about 1¼ to 2 pounds. The best part is that they’re fully rinded and perfect for a party. They make a beautiful presentation.
You’ll also want to have fresh ricotta on hand for homemade cannoli and cassata and other Italian Christmas specialties. Smoked scamorza and Caciocavallo in the shape of pigs or other animals are popular among Italians at holiday time and can be ordered in custom shapes. Equally festive, and likely to become a tradition for all who try it, is Manteca, a butter-stuffed Caciocavallo from Italy. When cut in half to expose the butter, Manteca becomes a conversation piece at a party.
Presentation cheeses
For home entertaining or gift-giving, shoppers look for cheese with aesthetic value. Small, attractive cheeses like leaf-wrapped Banons or edible flower-coated chèvres are perfect examples. Harley Farms, the California goat cheese producer, makes decorated chèvres with holiday flavors, such as cranberry-walnut or apricot-pistachio. Let customers know these eye-catching cheeses can be ordered in large sizes for parties.
Mascarpone-based tortas may sell all year, but they’ll sell a lot more in November and December. These sliceable creations — layered with everything from pesto to brandied prunes — are tailor-made for buffets and parties. Cross-merchandise with house-made croutons and olives (for savory tortas) or dried fruits and candied nuts (for sweet tortas).
Consider introducing customers to baked ricotta from Italy, a beautiful, sliceable, molded cheese with a golden surface. Lightly sweetened and flavored with lemon, orange, almond or chocolate, the baked ricotta can be cut into wedges for dessert, with poached pears or a shower of grated bittersweet chocolate.
Many retailers do well with Bries filled and decorated with seasonal ingredients like dried cranberries and pecans. The cheese is halved horizontally, the filling arranged on the cut surface (sometimes with a layer of cream cheese to hold the ingredients in place) and the top half repositioned. Try decorating the surface of 1-pound Bries with edible flowers and overwrapping them with plastic to sell whole as a party centerpiece.
It’s all about providing solutions for the shopper. If they see a Brie with dried cranberries and walnuts at the cheese counter and think “I need that for my Thanksgiving table,” it’s a good bet they’ll be telling their guests where they got it!
Gifts
One-pound, cloth-wrapped cheddars, such as Stilton, make a great gift — and they can be slipped right into a stocking. Look for small-format cheeses, nicely packaged, at an appropriate price point for a party gift. Waxed cheeses from top producers like Grafton Village and Cabot Creamery can go in gift baskets and can be easily shipped. Overwrap 1-pound Bries with cellophane and attach a recipe for baked Brie with a festive ribbon.
Grab and go
Do you have options for the shopper who is having a dozen people over and doesn’t have time to plan a cheeseboard? The grab and go cheese course you set for customers might be all they need to find a solution — perhaps three complementary cheeses on a black tray with crackers, a fruit garnish and a domed lid. Take all the thought out of it and make it easy for the customer.
Add-ons
Don’t forget all the goodies that make a cheese into a cheese course (and increased sales): truffle honey for blue cheeses; aged balsamic vinegar for drizzling on Parmigiano Reggiano; fig cakes and Marcona almonds for Spanish cheeses; mostarda for Italian cheeses. And for cheese trays: plump California golden raisins sun-dried on the stem make a great garnish.
Creating a cheese course is a great way to help the customer who’s looking to entertain. Be sure to tell customers what’s available via social media. And once your holiday cheese is in hand, remember to remind customers to serve the cheese at room temperature and provide a serving utensil for each variety.
