A French retail chain wanted to buy 950 large wheels of the best organic cheese. Apparently a fraudster actually tricked cheese producers.
A British company that produces award-winning cheddar cheese has fallen victim to a large-scale fraud. A fraudster posed as a buyer for a large French grocery chain and swindled cheese from the London company Neal’s Yard Dairy. A total of 22 tons of Cheddar were delivered. That’s 950 wheels of cheese made from the three award-winning cheeses – Hafod Welsh, Westcombe and Pitchfork.
Fraudster was a cheese connoisseur
Neal’s Yard Dairy didn’t notice the hoax until it was too late. The company said: “A detailed contract was drawn up which included detailed payment terms. Discussions with the purported representative demonstrated a deep understanding of the sector, which gave it further credibility.”
Neal’s Yard Dairy bears the loss so that farmers and dairies are not burdened. Patrick Holden, who owns the farm where Hafod Cheddar is made, said: “It may sound naive to fall victim to a scam, but the truth is that in the world of artisan cheese there is a deep-rooted trust in all transactions “It’s a world where everyone’s word is binding.”
Producers get paid
Neal’s Yard Dairy is a pioneer in traditionally produced organic products. Tom Calver produces the Westcombe variety for them. He said: “Neal’s Yard Dairy put us, the suppliers, first by making sure we got paid for the cheese even in the darkest of times. The process of making this cheese began almost three years ago when we planted seeds for The amount of work that went into raising the cows, following the best farming practices, and processing the milk, batch by batch, to make the best cheese possible is inestimable. And that was stolen Absolutely terrible.”
For the end customer, the fine cheese is not cheap. Hafod West costs the equivalent of 15.50 euros for the 300 gram piece, Westcombe costs 8.60 euros for 250 grams and Pitchfork costs 13.20 euros for 250 grams.
Source:
Source: Stern
