We still have a lot of customers who don\u2019t realise that it’s not just cheese we sell! Over the years we have been encouraged by customers to introduce other products to run alongside the cheeses. So now we carry a range of British and continental charcuterie, as well as olives, oils, chocolate and gourmet dry goods. Although cheese is our main speciality, we are more than happy to work with our customers to source new products.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/The-Cheese-Man-Smile.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Tell us something we might not know about cheese.
\n<\/b><\/h2>\n
Something you might not know is that unpasteurised (raw) milk cheeses under 60 days old are banned for import into the USA. So the likes of our Local Golden Cross, Flower Marie or Burwash Rose and even Brie de Meaux & Eppoise shouldn\u2019t be available in America. Their loss our gain!<\/p>\n
The Cheese Man is a family business. Which members of your family are involved?<\/b><\/h2>\n
We are still a family business, and although my father, Fred, who started the business retired officially last year, he still helps in the shop most Saturdays. My wife, Verity, is also now in the business and helps run the shop during the week, as well as helping with the accounts side of the business. Although our children are currently at university, they have been known to help out with jobs<\/a> from time to time. Who knows, maybe they are the next generation in the making!?<\/p>\n There may be a few reasons, but difficult to pinpoint! Could be the customer service we give, the quality products we supply. But it might just be that we enjoy what we are doing, and that reflects the customers. Plus we still only concentrate on the same delivery area as when we first started almost 25 years ago, we\u2019ve never really looked at expanding further afield, although it was one van then, it\u2019s now seven in the same area.<\/p>\n I suppose the title is Managing Director, although I use to share the responsibility with my father with regards to any decisions since the start, now I suppose it falls fully on my shoulders. I have done every aspect of the business from the start; from selling, purchasing and the warehouse. I still help out in all areas when needed, something a lot of MDs probably don\u2019t do but think it\u2019s key to know your business inside and out.<\/p>\n It takes the whole team to make sure the day to day running of the business is smooth and together we look at how we can push the business forward. Either with products, sales, promotions or getting more involved with our customers to help their businesses move forward to. I oversee all the aspects, but am definitely hands-on, from picking orders, putting stock away, meeting customers, meeting suppliers and covering the shop when required.<\/p>\n Although everybody\u2019s job has its times when maybe it feels a little monotonous, I love all the aspects of it. I\u2019m really proud of what we are doing here, and there\u2019s not a morning I wake up, not wanting to go to work.<\/p>\n The Cheese Hut<\/a> was an idea we had shortly after we moved into our current bigger premises about two and a half years ago. My wife was then currently working as a learning support assistant at our local school, but as our kids were now older, we didn\u2019t have to be around so much. We also had some unused extra space in our new premises, so we built a summer house inside the warehouse behind one of the shutters, and converted it into a mini shop, showcasing as many of the cheeses we had available.<\/p>\n Although we never expected it to take off in a big way, we certainly had the support of the local community which helps, as we are a little off the beaten track. We get a lot of walkers and cyclists, as well as our regulars now. Earlier this year we even expanded the shop, by building an extra summer house on the back and knocking through. So we’re really happy we can offer a range of products, including cheese towers direct to the public.<\/p>\n We have over 60 Sussex Cheeses<\/a> to choose from, and all of them are very important to us, as we love to promote the provenance of them, and this great county. But a few I particularly like are Willow Soft, a soft-ripened small goat log, that when really ripe will oose on your plate, without being to goaty in flavour! Ewe Eat Me is a relatively new hard sheep\u2019s cheese, based on a Manchego style, great on a tapas plate. We like to think we helped a little in the making of Brighton Blue, as we were pestering them to make a blue cheese, and we were guinea pigs for Mark and Sarah when they started producing it. Lord London is a unique bell-shaped cows cheese, which has a fresher citrus creamy flavour with only a thin bloom rind.<\/p>\n It is believed cheese got invented by accident over four thousand years ago! They say it came about as travellers on camel or horseback rode long distances used to carry fresh milk in pouches made from animal stomachs. During the journey, the milk was shaken up and mixed with the enzyme from the stomach lining (rennet), and with the heat, it caused the milk to separate into curds and whey and so cheese was created.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have to travel too far for one of my favourites! \u201cIsle of White Blue<\/a>\u201d A soft blue cheese with a lovely rich curd. Made by Richard on the Isle of White, and only one of a couple of cheeses he \u201cexports\u201d off the island.<\/p>\n Over the years, the internet has played a big part in finding new cheeses, and sometimes it\u2019s our customers, that stumble across them before we do. I wish we could stock them all, but sadly some smaller dairies sometimes can\u2019t make enough to supply further afield, and sending smaller quantities can work out very expensive for producers. We try to work with as many producers directly as possible, and we collect from all the local producers in Sussex, Hampshire and Surrey. But we sometimes rotate different dairies from month to month or try new ones to keep our customers interested.<\/p>\n I think customer service still plays a very big part of our business, and that\u2019s what people remember most; more than the price. They say you can be beaten on price, but you can\u2019t be beaten on service, so we try to be as competitive as we can on the products and the service we provide.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure there are still some independent Sussex suppliers<\/a> out there, I\u2019m sure some have been around longer than us. Maybe not just in the food sector, but other industries as well! GX Signs in Hove for instance sign wrote our first van, and have continued to do all our other vans through the years because the service is great and we like working with another local company.<\/p>\n Every single customer of ours is very important to us, and have helped us get to where we are today, from a small sandwich shop to Michelin starred restaurants. There are so many we could mention, and we love working with so many different types of businesses. A few places we work with are: Etch<\/a>, Pitch, Gravetye Manor, Bailiffs\u2019 Court<\/a>, Spread Eagle<\/a>, South Lodge<\/a>, Issac at, Heritage<\/a> and Restaurant Interlude @ Leonardslee Gardens<\/a>.<\/p>\n We are a team here and without all 17 of us working together the business could not survive, with special thanks to Carl, my manager who goes the extra mile for our customers, and Sally who looks after everyone\u2019s accounts, to the whole sales team, Jamie and Craig in the warehouse and Fred and Jo in the shop. And of course my wife Verity, who has been my support from the start. There\u2019s more than meets the eye to just delivering a bit of cheese! Thank you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Describing themselves as old school’, we meet Tony Cowling from The Cheese Man and we discover what makes this family business so special and how their business has evolved over decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[72,1447,1448,1446],"class_list":["post-4731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brighton-hospitality","tag-brighton","tag-cheese","tag-local-produce","tag-sussex"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/The-Cheese-Man-Hut.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nWhy do you think your business has survived almost three decades?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/The-Cheese-Man-Shop-Sussex.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nWhat is your role specifically and how long have you been doing it?<\/b><\/h2>\n
What do you like most about your role?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/The-Cheese-Man-Cheeses.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nHow did the Cheese Hut come about?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Name a few of your favourite Sussex Cheeses and why?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Brighton](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Brighton-Blue.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAn educational question, how did cheese get invented?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Out of all the cheeses you stock, which is your favourite and why?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Isle](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Isle-Of-Wight.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nDescribe notable changes you have seen in terms of how your business has adapted over your 24+ years?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Describe the changes you have seen in terms of how your customer expectations have changed?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Try](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/The-Cheese-Man-Try-Me.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAre there any other Sussex suppliers to the hospitality industry that have been around for as long as you?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Which Sussex restaurants do you work with?<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Partner](\"https:\/\/restaurantsbrighton.co.uk\/jobs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Cheese.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAnything you would like to add?<\/b><\/h2>\n