Cheese Matters, Brexit and the Rest of the World
An update, 5 months into Brexit
The learning curve continues, but firstly, we want to give a big thank you to our key suppliers: Cropwell Bishop, Dewlay, Isle of Man Creameries and Devon Cream Company, who have all done a fantastic job supplying us with correctly labelled cheeses and cream, on time and well palletised into our consolidation platform at Dewlay.
Over the last few months we have successfully exported numerous full trucks' worth of gourmet produce. Our dedicated truck has never been held up for more than 48 hours - and that was over a Bank Holiday. Sales, which only began in mid-February are now well in excess of €1,000,000 with deliveries to various EU countries, all served from our distribution platform at Bodegraven. While we continue to learn how to navigate the administrative burden of Brexit, we are always evolving and progressing our service.
Our fortnightly export to the EU continues to grow, with several new projects now well advanced. A big thank you to our World of Foods team in Dokkum, who have steered us through the delights of Dutch BTW, as well as providing a great link to developing markets of S.E Asia, which brings us beyond Brexit to the rest of the world!
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Beyond Brexit - the Rest of the World
Like us, our partners in Australia continue to grow and our monthly containers to Australia are way beyond pre-pandemic levels - a great tribute to the fantastic team at Calendar Cheese Company.
In India, our partners there are doing great work, not only in cheese, but milk powders; a new venture for us.
Our product range in Singapore continues to expand, including crackers from The Fine Cheese Company which are currently flying off the shelves!
The USA continues to be a challenge, but one we're more than prepared for as volumes return to 2019 levels with our main concern being the availability and cost of containers.
Post-Brexit and Mid-Pandemic, Cheese Matters Thrives
The administrative burden of Brexit as well as the ancillary costs are here to stay and this affects not only direct sales to the EU, but goods transiting through the EU for non EU destinations.
Despite this, Cheese Matters survives and thrives by being a low cost solutions provider to both producers and customers alike. Providing premium products to a world market has never been more exciting or challenging; pitfalls and opportunities lurk around every corner and if you join the Cheese Matters team we can help you avoid the former and exploit the latter!
With that in mind, a big welcome aboard to our new clients in Benelux, Italy, Israel and New Zealand who are already utilising all the benefits Cheese Matters has to offer.