Small organic suppliers to woo retail's big cheeses

It’s not so much a case of being left on the shelf… organic cheese is having trouble even getting on the shelf in the first place.

“There’s a large number of delicious organic cheeses being produced in the UK, but they’re much less available through the mainstream retailers,” says Finn Cottle, trade consultant at the Soil Association. “Apart from Sainsbury’s, which has a credible range of ‘So Organic’ cheese, there is little else accessible to the supermarket shopper.”

The Soil Association is looking to change that next March with its first ever Organic Cheese Showcase. The event, which will take place at Winkworth Farm in Malmesbury on 6 March, is looking to attract the big cheeses of UK grocery retail and wholesale in a bid to reverse the decline of organic cheese in the supermarkets.

“We have put together a list of buyers from the major multiples, key independents and wholesalers, who we will be inviting,” says Cottle. “This is aimed at showing retailers and wholesalers that there is a hige range of organic cheese available in this country and raising organic cheese’s profile.”

It could certainly do with some help. Quoting Nielsen figures [52 w/e 12 October], the Soil Association claims the general decline in organic sales over the past few years is beginning to level out, with sales of organic milk and yoghurt having achieved 3.4% and 6.7% growth. Organic cheese, however, is still in decline, with sales through the multiples having fallen 2.3% over the past year.

Cottle partly blames the emphasis on price in supermarket cheese aisles. “It’s become quite a price orientated market,” she says. “It’s not hard to find a big brand cheese at the end of a supermarket aisle that’s on offer. Small organic producers often don’t have the funds to be able to stand out in that environment.”

Which is why, no doubt, they’ll be queuing up to try and win over retailers at the Organic Cheese Showcase.