What happens to the Christmas cheeseboard in January

Last Christmas, shoppers bought cheese on 504,000 more occasions than the year before. AHDB's analysis of NIQ Homescan data shows cow's milk cheese volumes up 4.4% year on year in the two weeks to 27 December 2025, and Stilton and British blue selling almost a fifth of their annual volume in that one fortnight. Christmas is when the cheese fixture does some of its busiest trade of the year, and when the cheeseboard gives shoppers a reason to try something they might pass in an ordinary week.

More of what they try now comes through retailers' premium ranges. AHDB reports premium own-label cheese volumes up more than 8% in 2025, led by Cheddar and mozzarella. Across grocery, Worldpanel by Numerator recorded premium own label passing £1bn in a single month for the first time last December, and Irish premium own label is growing at 11.9% this autumn. Speciality Food has described supermarkets building their cheese ranges through premium wholesalers and direct relationships with cheesemakers. The supermarket chiller is carrying more of the cheeses once associated mainly with a specialist counter.

Some of those cheeses carry names the trade knows well. Westcombe Cheddar from Somerset is handmade from unpasteurised milk, clothbound and matured for around 12 to 18 months. Templegall, from Hegarty's in Co. Cork, was Supreme Champion at the CÁIS Irish Cheese Awards in 2024 and was named Best Irish Cheese at the 2026 Artisan Cheese Awards. Wicklow Farmhouse Cheese makes its cheeses by hand in small batches from its own Friesian herd, and its Bán has launched in an Irish retailer's premium range. At this year's CÁIS awards, the premium ranges of three Irish grocers won with farmhouse and creamery cheeses including Gubbeen, Coolea and Cashel Blue.

Published by The Dairy Mail, Dairy Connect: https://www.dairy-connect.com/the-dairy-mail/what-happens-to-the-christmas-cheeseboard-in-january/