One of our members runs the cheese program at a mid-sized specialty shop in the upper Midwest — deciding what goes in the case, which vendors get a shelf, and what gets cut when the case doesn't have room for everything a rep pitches her. She's been building that program for four years, and she told us this week that it never gets easier, no matter how many times she's done it.
"People think the hard part is finding good cheese. It isn't. There's more good cheese out there than I have case space for," she said. "The hard part is building a relationship with a producer where I can tell them honestly that something isn't moving, and they don't take it as a rejection of the cheese. That takes years, not one good order."
What four years actually changes
She said the biggest shift in her program hasn't been which cheeses she carries — it's how she buys. Early on, she leaned heavily on distributor recommendations and trade show samples. Now, a meaningful share of her case comes from producers she has a direct relationship with, including several small creameries she first met through federation events.
"A distributor is going to tell you what's easy to sell. A producer is going to tell you what they're proud of. Those aren't always the same cheese, and I want both conversations happening, not just one," she said. She's also become more comfortable saying no early rather than late — cutting a producer from a tasting before they've built expectations, instead of carrying a cheese for two quarters out of guilt.
Industry coverage this fall has pointed to convenience and variety as the two forces reshaping the retail cheese case, with shoppers increasingly drawn to grab-and-go formats alongside the traditional counter cut. She's felt that pull directly. "I used to think snackable formats were a distraction from real cheese. Now a good portion of my newer customers found us through a snack pack, then came back for the counter. I'd rather meet people where they are and bring them in than hold out for the customer I imagined five years ago."
Advice for a newer buyer
Asked what she'd tell someone starting a cheese program today, she didn't hesitate: keep a real record of what you've tried and why you passed on it. "I wasted a year re-tasting cheeses I'd already turned down because I didn't write down my reasons the first time. Now every sample gets three lines in a spreadsheet — what it was, what I thought, whether I'd revisit it in six months. It sounds small. It's saved me more time than any single vendor relationship has."
She also pushed back gently on the idea that a program should be built entirely around what's trending. "Chase a trend and you'll always be a season behind the people who started the trend. Build relationships with producers whose work you actually believe in, and you'll have something worth offering that isn't just this year's flavor."
If you're building or rethinking a retail or wholesale cheese program, our Membership & Outreach Committee can connect you with members who've been through it, including her, once her holiday case resets settle down.
The International Cheese Federation (ICF) and More Cheese are entirely fictional. This post is demonstration content created for MemberJunction. All people, organizations, events, courses, certifications, figures, and quotations in it are invented, and nothing here represents a real association, a real business, a real person, or real professional advice.