Tonnes of Cornish cheese at risk of being thrown away

Up to two tonnes of cheese is at risk of being thrown away by a company struggling to sell off its stock during lockdown.

Cornish Blue cheese takes about 10 weeks to mature and then has to be sold within six weeks.

It is made by the Cornish Cheese Company which sells 80% of its product to the hospitality sector which has been closed since early January.

The company said the cheese would go off within two to three weeks.

Ben Stansfield said: "We were making this cheese back in October and September, and we didn't expect a lockdown in January, February, March and maybe even longer.

"And because of hospitality having to close we lost our wholesale business overnight. We have got a big fridge full - about two tonnes.

"Normally we could sell this easily with all the wholesalers open, but it is all going to go off within two to three weeks.

"We are trying our best to not have to throw any away but we won't be able to sell it after that and you can't freeze two tonnes of cheese."

The company, based on Bodmin Moor, has developed its online platform in recent months and appealed on social media for people to buy the remaining stock.

Founder, and Ben's dad, Philip Stansfield said: "What catches us out is when lockdown finishes and you haven't got enough cheese.

"We could have sold twice as much last July and August which are our busiest months if we had had the stock.

"At the moment we are not sure when to start pushing again. It's a nightmare. If we don't open until May we have got to have cheese to sell as May, June, July and August is when it starts to get really busy for us."

The company is currently only making cheese one day a week "to keep us ticking over, and the milk being used", they explained.

Other cheese makers have cut back on production and have lost sales through pubs and restaurants being closed.

Martin Gaylard, from Curds and Croust, near Liskeard, said his soft cheese matures after about 20 days.

"I have had to put the brakes on," he said.

"It affects me in terms of sales but doesn't affect me in terms of having lots of cheese with nowhere for it to go, because I'm not producing it."

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