Entice Shoppers of All Types with Specialty Cheeses

Not every grocery store shopper considers themself a gourmet in the kitchen. But when it comes to cheese, nearly any consumer can be a connoisseur in the making.

Unlike other premium foods, artisanal cheeses have become nearly ubiquitous: Even fast-casual restaurants are cashing in on the trend with accessible upgrades to comfort food favorites such as macaroni and cheese and quick-fired pizza made with premium cheese.

And consumers are ready to upgrade in the grocery store, too. For retailers, this spells an opportunity to recruit both the adventurous and not-so-adventurous shoppers alike. By providing a variety of cheeses that are as approachable as they are high-quality, such as Schuman Cheese’s award-winning Cello brand, retailers can convince shoppers to upgrade—and to keep coming back for more. Schuman’s Cello brand offers everything from Italian-style Fontal, Asiago, Romano and Parmesan wedges, to pre-assembled trios of cheese flights for easy entertaining, to a lineup of Cello Cheese cups for snacking or for convenient cooking.

Especially amid pandemic-related changes to the market, cheese is a strong candidate for boosting grocery sales. Data from the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA) shows that demand for cheese in the food retailing segment has remained strong during the pandemic, with sales increases in double digits nearly every month for both fixed- and random-weight cheeses.

“Deli meat and deli cheese seem to have settled into a nice pattern of about 10% above last year’s levels, and continue to trade off for the honor of the strongest growth within total deli,” said Angela Bozo, education director with IDDBA, in a recent report. “Success in the deli department is highly dependent on store trips, so in the environment where people are shopping less and ordering online, making sure deli cheese, meat and prepared foods are on the radar is crucially important.”

When it comes to specialty cheeses, both new and experienced shoppers benefit from detailed descriptions of the various cheeses on display, illustrating the nuances of different flavors and offering suggestions for pairing with wine or food. By detailing the cheese’s place of origin and providing background information on the aging process, retailers can make unfamiliar cheeses all the more accessible and appealing to shoppers.

Cello brand offers a prime example of how carefully crafted wording on a cheese’s label can be an effective marketing tool, educating the consumers on their purchase. The Cello Copper Kettle line, for example, entices consumers with its backstory—a unique, artisanal-style Parmesan cheese cooked in copper vats and aged for 16 months, offering fruity, cooked caramel flavors with notes of crushed apple and pineapple.

Consumers seeking to learn how to buy and eat cheese need some guidance, and cheeses that can be eaten on their own or used in familiar dishes can offer a gateway to trial. The Cello brand offers a cheese for every shopper—for the artisanal-cheese novice and the connoisseur alike. Consumers come for the enticing, accessible marketing and they stay for the intricate, craveable flavors of a fine premium cheese. And, as any retailer knows, recruiting a lifelong consumer comes with infinite returns.

To learn more about how Schuman’s Cello brand can invite shoppers to upgrade their cheese of choice with a selection artisanal cheese wedges, flights and cups for easy cooking, entertaining and snacking, visit schumancheese.com.