Cheese it! A history of cheese at Sainsbury's

Cheese it! A history of cheese at Sainsbury's

We continue to look at the history of dairy products at Sainsbury’s following on from our previous story about butter and margarine.

Sainsbury’s began as a dairy shop in Drury Lane, London opened in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. At first, they sold just three products: butter, milk and eggs. Cheese however came very soon after.

 

The 'Big Cheese'

Sainsbury’s changed much over the years following its establishment in 1869. It became no longer just a dairy shop and now sold also bacon, cooked meats, fresh meat and a wide range of groceries such as tea and canned foods. It expanded across London, and then later through into the Home Counties and beyond. By 1900 it had 47 branches and sold around 130 different products.

Cheese (as was also the case with butter) however remained very much as one of the core products at the heart of the company which they were always keen to promote.

Most of Sainsbury's advertising for cheese was on the basis of quality and price but one branch had an interesting promotion in 1912 with a ‘big cheese’ weighing 6500 pounds (just under 3000kg) with a circumference of 17 feet (over 5m).

 

'English & foreign cheese of every variety'

The range of cheeses greatly expanded beginning in 1882 when the newly opened Croydon branch became the first Sainsbury’s store to sell a wide range of speciality cheeses. An advertisement of 1894 promoted it as offering ‘English and foreign cheese of every variety’ including Cheddar and Cheshire cheese ‘from well-known dairies’, Stiltons ‘rich, ripe and blue’, gorgonzolas ‘of the finest quality’, gruyere ‘(Gold Medal) specially imported’ and Canadian Cheddars and American cheese of their ‘own importation’. It was apparently the ‘only house in Surrey’ where you could obtain various cheeses: bon-dons, York creams, Neufchatel, Port du Salut, green cheese, Roquefort, alpine cream, and Camemberts.

The wider range of cheeses was extended to more branches with fifteen cheeses (non-cream) and six cream cheeses being listed on Sainsbury’s 1911 price list (though perhaps not all branches would have offered the full selection).

Imported cheeses though weren’t necessarily speciality products for those of wealthier means. In fact by quantity most imported cheese sold in the UK was cheaper than cheese produced here. Imported Cheddar and 'fine quality' cheese was cheaper than Cheddar and Cheshire from English dairies. Gorgonzola and Edam were also a little cheaper than English Cheddar as shown on the 1911 price list. The 1908 census of production (the first such census) recorded that 75% of cheese sold in the UK was imported.

 

The First World War

During the First World War, cheese still continued to be mostly imported – including from New Zealand, Canada and Australia. The entirety of New Zealand’s cheese exports were bought by Britain from November 1915 till the end of the war. Although supplies of cheese from continental Europe were of course much more limited due to the war, there was some cheese imported from the Netherlands and even some Gorgonzola from Italy in 1916.

 

The inter-war years

Following the First World War, supplies of cheese from continental Europe were once again available. Sainsbury’s once again offered a wide variety of cheeses. Cheese from the British Empire (mainly New Zealand and Canada) however far exceeded that imported from any other countries. Most of this was Cheddar.

Sainsbury’s did though make a strong effort to promote English cheeses in their advertising and in its branches. They produced a leaflet in the 1930s to promote Somerset farmhouse Cheddar in which they stated that they were “the largest buyers of genuine Somerset Farmhouse Cheddar”. This was at a time when most dairy farms were focussing on the sale of liquid milk rather than cheese. They found cheesemaking was unprofitable even though their cheese sold for a higher price than most imported cheese.

Apart from Cheddar the other main English cheeses sold by Sainsbury’s at this time were Cheshire and Stilton. Cheshire was one of the most popular cheeses in the country and before the Second World War was still the most produced cheese by British farms but declined in popularity throughout the 20th century. Stilton was a little more expensive than other cheeses and so perhaps tended to be more of a special treat including for Christmas. It was rare at this time for other types of British cheeses to be sold outside their local area.

 

'Cheese it!'

At the start of the Second World War cheese supplies seem to have been little affected at Sainsbury's and in 1939 they had a 'Christmas as usual' with a wide variety of cheeses from many countries being still available - as shown in the price list above.

However from May 1940 as the war became much more intense and more of the continent was occupied by Nazi Germany it became no longer possible to get cheese from continental Europe and ships bringing in food from elsewhere were at risk of being attacked.  Cheese was rationed from 1941 like most foods. Cheesemakers were only permitted to make certain types of cheese with Cheddar being the most commonly available.

In terms of quantity of cheese supplied rather than the varieties, things didn’t really change all that much. Most cheese continued to be imported – from New Zealand, Australia, Canada and now also from the USA (responsible for a peak of 39% of cheese imports in 1942). In fact domestic cheese production declined a little from its already low base during the war. The imported quantity of cheese (not just its proportion) actually increased from 1940 – although as cheese can be stockpiled a significant quantity was held back in reserve rather than immediately released. Cheese is also relatively less bulky and is easier to transport than many other foods so it made sense to import it rather than things like cereal crops. Most milk was needed for the milk ration in any case.

Although cheese was rationed it was in much greater supply than meat, was a good source of protein and helped provide variety in the wartime diet. The government therefore decided to promote it and increased the cheese ration in 1942.  Sainsbury’s helped this campaign with newspaper advertisements promoting recipes such as cheese potatoes, cheese pancakes and Welsh rarebit.

 

Plenty of cheese to choose from

Continental cheese began to return by 1947 with roquefort, camembert, blue cheese and ‘occasionally’ gorgonzola, brie, carré de l’est, and pont l’evêque being advertised.

This was quite limited at first but the Ministry of Food allowed the sale of a greater variety of cheeses from 1950 and by 1951 Sainsbury’s could offer 26 different cheeses.

By 1953, the company advertised there was “plenty of cheese to choose from” after having developed “many friendly connections with the best dairies all over Europe”.

All cheese sold at Sainsbury’s at this time went through the company’s cheese department at its London head office where it was inspected, stored and then sent out to the individual branches. Some cheese needed to be stored there for many months to mature while others were sent out the same day. An article and pictures showing their work was published in the company’s staff magazine JS Journal in 1957. This role was later taken on by the company's depots.

The 1950s was also the time of Sainsbury’s first self-service stores – where the customer selects the products from the shelves (as in a modern supermarket) rather than asking for it at a counter. As time went on stores became bigger with the emergence of the supermarket enabling the company to stock a wider range of goods. This included a greater variety of cheeses, including continental cheeses and British cheeses from all around the country.

There was a much greater availability of milk for cheesemaking in the UK which resulted in a massive boom for the British cheese industry – it grew from producing 18,000 tonnes in 1944/45 to 112,000 in 1960/61 and 235,000 in 1975. Cheddar which was (and still is) by far the most popular cheese accounted for most of this increase and so a much higher percentage of it was now made in the UK rather than imported.

Of the imported cheese more of it started to originate from within Europe from the 1960s onwards and imports from New Zealand, Canada, and Australia declined greatly. This accelerated further when the country joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Much of this imported cheese came from the Republic of Ireland which became the largest exporter of cheese to the UK.

By the 1980s and 90s there was also a growing interest among the public for buying a greater variety of cheeses. More small cheesemakers were established in Britain. A booklet about different types of cheese and recipes was published and sold by Sainsbury’s in 1988. By this time the company was the largest retailer of cheese in Britain and sold more different cheeses than any other retailer (170 in 1985; over 200 in 1991).

 

The making of cheese

This story has concentrated mainly on the sale of cheese at Sainsbury’s rather than its production. Sainsbury’s staff magazine the JS Journal can tell you more about how the cheese sold at Sainsbury’s was made over the years.

•   Cheddar in 1957

•   Farmhouse Cheddar in 1966 and 1979.

•   Cheese spread in 1959

•   Camembert and brie in 1964

•   Emmenthal in 1964

•   Parmesan in 1965

•   Stilton in 1982

 

Sources and further reading

(in addition to items referenced or linked in the story)

•   Godfrey, Wendy ‘A Sainsbury Guide: Cheese'

•   JS Journal – various articles including "Who would a Cheesemonger be?" (July 1951), “Cheese” (June 1956), and “The buyer who nibbles for a living” (November 1985)

•   White, Nigel ‘The Evolution of the British Cheese Industry’ 

•   Williams, Bridget ‘The Best Butter in the World: A History of Sainsbury’s’