I am looking forward to the holidays and spending time with family and friends. Our Christmas Eve celebration for the family at our home always includes a cheese board with an eclectic assortment of unique cheeses from around the world carefully chosen from the incredible assortment at nearby retailer Formaggio Kitchen. This year’s cheese board will also include some special cheeses that were acquired on my business trips to Italy and Spain earlier this year. I have been carefully preserving these cheeses in the back of my refrigerator for months waiting this special occasion to enjoy them. I am not sure if my wife is more excited about celebrating Christmas this year or getting the cheese out of her refrigerator to free up valuable space.
I am excited to share my experience watching these cheeses being made right in front of me, and now having the opportunity to share them on my own table thousands of miles away. It’s really amazing to think of the journey these cheeses have endured to arrive fresh on my plate. But, there is one more leg of the journey that also needs to be considered to preserve this freshness until the product is consumed. The packaging has the potential to extend the life of these cheeses beyond the cheese retailer and keep the taste and texture intact while it sits in the home refrigerator.
I couldn’t resist opening one of my pieces of aged Reggiano Parmigiano to top my homemade ragu this fall. The granules still had the wonderful crunch that makes a 24-month aged Reggiano Parmigiano special just as it did fresh out of the curing room at the manufacturing facility. I did my best to wrap the remaining cheese in plastic wrap, but it’s gradually changed flavor and texture slowly as I finish the rest. It reminded me how important the cheese packaging is to the preserving of the product.
Now that we are discussing entertaining with cheese for the holidays, I imagine many more consumers will have a similar experience. I think retailers should consider selling specialty cheese wrap alongside the cheese counter, so that consumers can benefit from keeping their cheeses fresh longer after they open them. This will give them the confidence to buy more types of cheese or bigger pieces knowing that they don’t have to consume it all immediately, but can do so over a period of weeks. Fortunately for me, fine cheese retailers like Formaggio Kitchen cuts and wraps the cheeses they sell in this type of re-useable paper to all of their customers, insuring that they will have a positive cheese experience.
David Spencer
Publisher, Fine Cheese & Charcuterie
dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com