The love of cheese can really drive some people mad. This time, however, it is the unbridled love of money who is to blame. On October 25, Neal's Yard Dairy, a London-based artisanal cheese retailer, revealed that they had suffered a theft of almost 1,000 wheels of cheese that amounted to more than $388,000 (£300,000). The thieves had posed as distributors and authorities are investigating the incident.
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The retailer announced the news in an Instagram post. "Neal's Yard Dairy has been the victim of a theft resulting in the loss of over 22 tonnes of clothbound Cheddar," reads the statement. "Over 950 wheels of Hafod, Westcombe, and Pitchfork Cheddar were delivered before the fraud was discovered."
Patrick Holden, who runs Holden Farm Dairy, talked about the scam with the BBC. The Hafod Welsh Cheddar cheese that was stolen belonged to Holden. "They have already claimed £300,000, these criminals, and if they sell the cheese they'll get more again," said Holden.
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He believes the scammers will sell the cheese abroad where there aren't many restrictions. "I think they're hoping to sell it in the Middle East or Russia, that's my guess," said Holden. "I think if they tried to sell it closer to home they'd find it difficult because the international artisan community is very connected."
"That made it all the more shocking really, that this could happen to a product that is hallmarked with openness and trust and transparency all the way down from the producer to the final customer," Holden continued.
The openness, trust, and transparency that Holden describes do not apply only to the cheese they produce. It also applies to Neal's Yard Diary itself. Despite suffering from a scam this size, they still honored their commitments and were able to pay all the artisan cheesemakers. This includes Holden Farm Dairy.
Neal's Dairy Farm is currently working with authorities to discover who were the thieves behind the scam. According to the Metropolitan Police, it took place on October 21. They have urged their customers and cheesemongers to report any suspicious cheese being sold to [email protected].
