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Cheese Intelligence - The Driving Force for the Deli Counter
When you consider the size of the global marketplace, and the number of jobs relying on the milk of the Cow, Sheep, Goat and other exotic Beasts it soon becomes apparent that this is no small segment of the marketplace. When we launched Chef's Studio in 1995 one of the most interesting growth areas identified was that of Cheese and Dairy. In fact I regularly host Cheese Tasting's as a good ice breaker for meeting the leaders of the media and corporations. You can always find some Cheese that a person likes, and weave a story around it. Artisan Cheeses in particular are ideal for holding the attention of an audience, as they take their thoughts away from the noise and confusion of the modern technological life into the pastoral peace of a dew soaked mountainside. Cheese is a theme for peaceful thoughts, besides a very profitable item to sell. But which Cheese, and from where? That is the purpose of Cheese Intelligence to monitor the trends of the marketplace and give timely warning of changes in the trends of the buying public. This is the ultimate "Who Moved My Cheese" business game, becoming "When will my Cheese move, and where to?". Cheese takes time to produce, except for the kind on the top of your Burger. That usually is instant production in an Oil Refinery. No, I mean the classic cheeses abused in your local Supermarket Deli counter. Here the living cheese is crammed into a airtight plastic wrapper, with it's Butt on a near freezing chilled surface, its head in the glaring light, and heat of the display lighting, and squeezed and moved around by countless fingers. Yet it started it's life months, even years ago as a decision by a Farmer to buy livestock. Without that livestock there can be no milk, without that milk there can be no Cheese. The producers have to decide which type of cheese they should produce, and in what quantity. The wholesalers must decide on what finished products they should buy, and where they should distribute. The retailers have to decide which Cheese the customer will ask for, and what, and how much to order from the wholesalers. Which comes down to what the customer wants, and where the trends show the future demand will develop. Of course the ultimate is to lead the customer to where there is an adequate, and profitable supply. If the customer comes in thinking about Wensleydale with Apricots, as featured on the Food Network, and in the Food Section this week and finds the retailer has that same delight as Special of the Week, then everybody wins. The process to have exactly what the customer wanted started many months ago, using a fusion of marketing intelligence, and media management.
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At first sight it may seem strange that we follow Cheese, and the new cheeses appearing on the plates at receptions, fine dining and cheese shops. In the circles of social influence knowing your cheese and wine scores points, and can open many a conversation.