Photo: Neal’s Yard Dairy/Instagram.
London-based distributor Neal’s Yard Dairy announced recently on Instagram that it was “the victim of a sophisticated fraud” involving high-value cheddar cheese.
You really don’t want to get mixed up with people who are intense about cheese. Years ago, when I was a member of Cheese Lovers International, I crossed knives with the highly emotional founder, whose name I no longer recall. To compensate for something I once complained about, he told me he would give me a discount on every order for my life. Unfortunately, his staff had no way of knowing about my discount. Explaining got to be too much work.
Rachel Treisman and Juliana Kim have a great cheese story at National Public Radio.
“Authorities in London have arrested a 63-year-old man in connection with the cheese heist of 2024, in which tens of thousands of pounds of high-value cheddar were stolen from a major distributor. ..
“ ‘The man was taken to a south London police station where he was questioned. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries,’ a police spokesperson said.
“Over the past week, the British artisanal cheese community has been reeling after Neal’s Yard Dairy announced it had been the ‘victim of a sophisticated fraud resulting in the loss of over £300,000 worth of clothbound Cheddar’ — the equivalent of more than $389,000.
“ ‘The theft involved a fraudulent buyer posing as a legitimate wholesale distributor for a major French retailer, with the cheese delivered before the discovery of the fraudulent identity,’ the company said.
“The thief made off with 950 wheels — over 22 metric tons, or roughly 48,500 pounds — of Hafod, Westcombe and Pitchfork cheddar. … The wheels came from three different artisan suppliers across England and Wales.
“ ‘Between them, these cheeses have won numerous awards and are amongst the most sought-after artisan cheeses in the U.K.,’ Neal’s Yard Dairy said. … The crime cuts deep: Cheddar, which originated in a village by the same name in Somerset, England, is the best-selling cheese in the U.K. and a big source of national pride.
“Last week, British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver explained in an Instagram video that there is ‘only a small handful of real cheddar cheese makers in the world,’ and that’s where the stolen cheese came from. …
“Neal’s Yard Dairy is shouldering the cost of the crime, having already paid the artisan cheesemakers in full. The company says it is now taking steps to ensure its own financial stability. …
“Tom Calver with the cheesemaker Westcombe says they were led to believe they were sending their products to France via Neal’s Yard Dairy.
“ ‘These guys … basically impersonated a wholesaler-slash-customer, quite a large retailer over in France,’ he said in an Instagram video, showing a row of empty shelves and noting he had posted excitedly about the 10-ton order just weeks earlier. ‘It was a hoax, it was theft, it was fraud. I mean, it’s nuts.’
“Patrick Holden, whose Hafod Welsh cheddar was taken, told the BBC … he believes they may be trying to sell it in the Middle East or Russia, ‘because people won’t ask questions there.’
“ ‘I think if they tried to sell it closer to home they’d find it difficult,’ he said, naming North America and Australia as examples. ‘Because the international artisan community is very connected.’ …
“Neal’s Yard Dairy is asking its ‘esteemed community of cheesemongers around the world’ to keep an eye out for the cheese and contact them if they are offered or receive any suspicious deals — especially clothbound cheddars of certain weights (10 kg and 24 kg) with the tags detached. …
“ ‘Because we can potentially trace it back — hopefully, maybe, I don’t know.’ “
I have one more question: Where was Ratatouille at the time of the crime?
More at NPR, here.
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