By love-89.com Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is rallying cheese enthusiasts to assist law enforcement in tracking down a group of scammers who swindled a London dairy out of over £300,000 worth of English and Welsh cheddar.
Neal’s Yard Dairy, known for its distribution and retail of British artisan cheeses, found itself a victim after delivering 22 tons of award-winning clothbound cheddar to an alleged fraudster masquerading as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer. It wasn’t until after the delivery that they realized they had been deceived.
“This incident, involving more than 950 wheels of cheddar, is a brazen heist of shocking proportions,” Oliver, 49, expressed on Instagram. He urged his followers to stay vigilant and report any suspicious offers of “lorryloads of very posh cheese” being sold at unusually low prices, noting that the cheddar’s original value would have been around £300,000.
The cheeses in question include Hafod Welsh organic cheddar, Westcombe cheddar, and Pitchfork cheddar, all of which have garnered numerous awards and are considered some of the most coveted artisan cheeses in the UK, according to Neal’s Yard Dairy. In a show of support for the small-scale producers, the dairy confirmed it has compensated Hafod, Westcombe, and Pitchfork for the stolen products to ensure they do not suffer financially.
The retail prices for these cheeses range from £7.15 to £12.90 for a small piece weighing between 250-300 grams. Neal’s Yard Dairy has also announced that it is collaborating with the Metropolitan Police to track down the culprits.
The dairy is appealing to cheesemongers across the globe to reach out if they suspect they have received the stolen cheese, particularly those clothbound cheddars packaged in either 10kg or 24kg formats with the tags removed.
As of Friday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they are investigating a report concerning the theft of a significant quantity of cheese from a London outlet. “Inquiries are ongoing into the circumstances,” a spokesperson stated, noting that no arrests have been made since the theft was reported on Monday.