Russian smugglers under suspicion in great cheese robbery

Neal’s Yard Dairy in London has thanked the public for an “overwhelming” response to crooks stealing £300,000 worth of clothbound cheddar. Suppliers and customers have increased orders after the company reimbursed three artisan cheesemakers who supplied 22 tonnes of the stuff. A fraudulent buyer posed as a big cheese from a French supermarket in July, took delivery and then failed to pay. The chef Jamie Oliver called on his followers to be wary of “lorryloads of very posh cheese”, while suspicion has fallen on Russian cheese smuggling gangs. Since Putin banned EU food imports in 2014 in response to Western sanctions, some Russians have taken to smuggling. According to one Russian chef, local cheese tastes like “modelling clay”. Police seized 470 tonnes of cheese worth £23 million in 2015 and 70 tonnes near St Petersburg in 2020. Smugglers now take cheese over the Russian border – caerphilly.