Sales of mature Cheddar are growing faster than milder varieties.

Cheese experts believe that exposure to spicy, exotic food has meant a greater demand for more pungent flavours.

Sales of mature Cheddar at Tesco grew by 21% last year compared to 15.5% for medium.

James Markie, Tesco’s cheese buyer said: “There is a definite shift towards the strong end of the Cheddar market which we started to notice about 18 months ago.”