A Lot of Cheddar: London Thieves Make Off With $400,000 in Artisanal Cheese

Scotland Yard has played a role in many chapters of criminal history, from investigating Jack the Ripper to pioneering fingerprint identification. But a new case on their radar may prove to be the most appetizing of all: the theft of hundreds of premium cheddar cheese wheels worth nearly $400,000.

According to the Associated Press, the London-based Neal’s Yard Dairy was victimized by a con artist posing as a cheese buyer for a French supermarket. The scammer first sent an email inquiry and then launched into a negotiation lasting several months, always demonstrating a keen knowledge of the cheese business. Under false pretenses, the suspect was able to separate Neal’s from 22 tons of premium cheddar cheese. Neal’s agreed to deliver the cheese to a warehouse, where it was later picked up by person or persons unknown, making for a clean getaway.

As you might already suspect, the stolen goods weren’t the processed singles sold at supermarkets. The varieties spirited from Neal’s include Hafod, Westcombe, and Pitchfork. The artisanal cheese comes in cloth-bound wheels and takes between 12 and 18 months to age properly.

“The process of making that cheese started almost three years ago, when we planted seeds for the animals’ feed,” Tom Calver of Westcombe Dairy told the BBC. “The amount of work that’s gone into nurturing the cows, emphasizing best farming practice, and transforming the milk one batch at a time to produce the best possible cheese is beyond estimation. And for that to be stolen…it’s absolutely terrible.”

The thief—plus any potential accomplices—has a tough job ahead of them. They’ll need to offload the 22-pound and 52-pound blocks or else cut the cheese into wedges, a far more tedious prospect.

Patrick Holden, the owner of the farm that makes Hafod cheese, told the BBC that he suspects the culprits may try to dispense with the cheese in a foreign market—possibly Russia or the Middle East.

“Because people won’t ask questions there,” Holden said. “I think if they tried to sell it closer to home they’d find it difficult because the international artisan community is very connected. If they tried to sell it in North America, where we sell a lot of Hafod, or even Australia, believe it or not, would go up because people would ask questions.”

Neal’s is taking the financial hit: The company says it has paid its suppliers even though the fate of the cheese is up in the air.

The thieves, meanwhile, are under time constraints to offload the cheese. Unlike stolen art or cash, the haul will remain good only for the next 12 to 18 months.

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