Supplier Spotlight - CheesePlus interview with Perry James Wakeman
For this month’s Supplier Spotlight, we shine the light on a brand captained by the UK's first Affineur (cheese maturer)
of the Year;
Cheeseplus and their Chief of Cheese,
(What a jobtitle!)
Perry James Wakeman
How long have you been supplying Houston & Hawkes?
Since day dot!
What would you say is the Cheeseplus ethos?
We have over 40 years of experience, in selecting, ageing, and grading the finest cheese in the British Isles. Every cheese is lovingly aged in our maturing room, refined and enhanced for you to enjoy when our cheese is outstanding. At the heart of our business, is a great team of people that love what they do and go above and beyond to make sure our cheese is astonishingly good and every contact you have with us is very enjoyable. We are great friends with many of our British farmhouse cheesemakers, working very closely with them to understand the challenges they face and what makes our cheese so great. We regularly visit the farms to see the cheese being made and where all those wonderful flavours comes from.
What was your biggest challenge over the pandemic?
Can I say all of it?
I suppose the biggest challenge was losing 98% of turnover pretty much overnight, and having a maturing room full of quite expensive cheese and existing markets to sell it to. We had to picot extremely quickly, we set up a supermarket operation to help the local community as the major multiples began to run dry of supply, but the biggest change was that we setup up Rennet & Rind. A specific part of our operation which looks after the high-quality cheese but with the ability to post to people's homes. We set up our flagship product which was the mystery cheese box, which contains five cheeses with tasting notes and an accompanying video hosted by me talking about the specific cheese and how they're great at the moment, and also spearheading the British artisan cheese support movement, as many of these great cheese makers were facing ruin. Today, maturing British cheese is an even bigger part of our business as more customers really want to know where their product come from.
How important to you is the relationship between supplier and client?
Very important. As a small independent business what we do is actually quite niche, and our customers really need to care and understand our ethos. We want to have conversations about great food, not about pennies. We want to support communities of artisan producers, who know the value of food experiences and heritage.
Houston & Hawkes get that.
Would you say that client-supplier relationships have changed since the pandemic recovery?
Quality. As we face a cost-of-living crisis two markets are beginning to emerge. There are customers who want to battle against the global pressures of the global market, apply pressure to suppliers, reduce quality, move supply into much larger conglomerates who have very deep pockets to win business, and look at supply solutions outside of our shores and ultimately focus on the bottom line. Then there's our camp, which believes that if someone is spending their hard-earned cash on a plate of food, a sandwich or even some cheese. They want to feel good about it. They want to know it's from an independent business, that their money spent is directly going back into our economy, that it's from sustainable sources and the quality isn't compromised, and the meal is nutritiously fulfilling and they aren't going to need another snack in a few hours.
What are your best-selling products this time of year?
We have entered lambing season, which means there are a lot of sheep cheeses which have been utilising the season-rich milk which creates huge diverse flavours.
Such as Spenwood. A superb example of our British take on familiar continental styles, like Pecorino, Manchego and Parmesan. The texture is parched and slightly granular, and the flavour begins with a subtle nod to almond milk with a little zestiness, moving towards more complex savouriness, complemented by the anticipated peppery finish.
What’s new at Cheeseplus?
Two cheeses! Firstly, a Continental style called Bybrook which I washed twice a week in local rapeseed oil. Visually, Bybrook is quite the gnarly cheese, hence its codename: The Ugly Duckling. The brownish rind has maze-like crevices and the interior has small eyelets set amongst the trademark buttery colour traditionally belonging Jersey cow milk cheeses. Heaps of character. The flavour is simply incredible, which will belt your senses. An unbelievable amount of refined sweetness, notes of browned butter, roux and hazelnut with buckets of longevity. A truly incredible cheese, and if you like alpine styles (Comte, Beaufort), you will certainly love this British cheese.
Secondly, Moreton. A British take on a proper rustic French Tomme. A truly stunning collection of native yeast and moulds are peppered across the surface, this diverse microflora has two jobs. Firstly, creating an absolutely gorgeous mushroom woodland aroma, and secondly, creating a crucial part in imparting Moreton's truly unique flavours. The cheese on the palate is smooth, and the taste is seriously rich and savoury with an interesting pivot, to a clever clean seltzer note.
What do you think will be the upcoming food trends as we head into the Summer?
Cheese and Charcuterie Platters are becoming so accessible at the moment. A lot of people are opting for these platters as a to-go meal of choice, and with how high the quality is of British artisan cheese and charcuterie, the flavours are always rich and diverse so there's something for everyone. They're also very 'Instagram-able', relatively low hassle and great for creating a conversation around the board.
Thank you so much Perry for taking time out of your busy schedule for us and congratulations on your recent recognition.
Anyone up for an al fresco cheeseboard?