Award-winning cheeses from Britain enjoyed a 40 per cent spike in sales following an AHDB-led promotion in Canada.
The successful campaign ran in four Denningers’ stores – one of Canada’s leading speciality food retailers – in the four weeks leading up to Easter.
The aim was to showcase the high quality and exceptional taste of six cheeses – Belton’s Red Fox, Black Bomber, Colston Basset Stilton, Millbrook Dairy cheddar, Keens cheddar and Ford Farm cave aged goat’s cheese.
During the event, the cheeses not only proved more popular than last year, but also made-up 15 per cent of all deli sales.
Canada represents a hugely important export market for UK cheese, with 2,039 tonnes shipped to the country last year.
Lucy Randolph, AHDB senior export manager for dairy said: “As one of our key export markets, it’s fantastic to see a growing appetite among Canadian consumers for British cheese and it gives us plenty of encouragement for the future.”
Funding was jointly provided by AHDB, dairy exporters and Denningers which enabled in-store promotion, magazine and on-line advertising, as well as a consumer competition.
The initiative was led by Paul Blake, AHDB’s Dairy Agent, who was appointed last October to develop opportunities within the North American market.
Lucy added: “We are delighted with the success of our Easter promotion, and we hope that this, and other AHDB events in Canada, will help us to build on our already impressive cheese export figures in the year ahead.”
