Britain’s love for its favourite cheese, Cheddar, is undergoing a major transformation thanks to the changing British palate.
For centuries the most popular strength for Cheddar across the UK was mild and medium but latest sales data can reveal that the fastest growing varieties are now the most powerful extra mature and vintage types.
In order to meet the growing demand Tesco has increased the pack sizes of its own label top strength cheeses while ordering more to be ready once they have matured for the requisite 18 plus months.
Cheese experts say the change is all down to our love of spicier food which now dominate British cuisine and which have hardened our palates.
Latest 52 week volume sales data across all retailers from independent analysts Kantar (25 Jan 2025) shows:
Vintage Cheddar – growing by 5.4 per cent
Extra Mature Cheddar – up by 2 per cent
Medium Cheddar – fallen by 5.6 per cent
Mild Cheddar – down by 2.4 per cent
At Tesco demand for extra mature and vintage Cheddar have increased by nearly 25 per cent in the last year.
Tesco UK cheese buyer Darren Atherton said:
“The gradual move towards stronger tasting Cheddar varieties has come about because of our love of spicy food. With curries, Asian and Mexican food now a regular part of the UK diet our palates are acclimatising to these stronger and more exotic flavours so that we tend to go for more complex taste profiles."
“This has been especially recognised in the Cheddar industry where producers are widening the strength profiles of their cheeses to include varieties that pack more of a punchier taste. And they are achieving this by selecting different starter culture at the start of the cheese making process which then produce different flavour profiles over longer periods of maturation.”
As a result of the trend more Cheddar producers are now making stronger tasting varieties.
Artisan independent cheesemakers, Ford Farm, who specialise in Cheddar and make the famous cave aged Wookey Hole and Coastal Bite varieties are also seeing the rising demand for stronger and punchier varieties.
The company, based outside Dorchester, in Dorset, gives the example of its Coastal Cheddar which it launched in 2000. Sales slowly grew through word of mouth until it was picked up by Tesco in 2006 who put it for sale in its stores across the UK.
In the last 15 years the company has seen demand rocket by 460 per cent with production growing from 1300 tonnes a year in 2010 to the present 6000 tonnes.
Ford Farm’s head cheesemaker Martin Crabb said:
“Demand for vintage Cheddar is going through the roof right now and is almost certainly at an all-time high. We created our Coastal Cheddar to appeal to the consumer demand for a rich, rugged Cheddar and we age it for up to 15 months which gives it an intense flavour while the culture used also adds a contrasting subtly sweet top note."
“The variety has won gold medals at the British Cheese Awards and International Cheese Awards and we’ve been told that it has become the biggest selling branded Cheddar in America.”
Tesco hard cheese technical manager Eleanor Wood added: “A big signifier for high quality within vintage cheddar is the visual formation of calcium lactate crystals that forms on the inside and outside of the cheese.
“It adds so much depth of flavour and texture to the cheese, providing you with a slightly salty note but also a beautiful crunch."
“When eating the cheese you'll be hit by the complex flavours - slight sweetness first following the more intense sharpness and acidic notes, leaving you salivating and wanting more.”
