Neal’s Yard Dairy’s owners report ‘overwhelming’ support after fraud worth millions

The owners of Neal’s Yard Dairy have reported “overwhelming” support after it was revealed that over 22 tonnes of cheddar were stolen from the London cheese specialist. The company delivered 950 wheels of cheddar valued at $3,89,662.50 to someone who pretended to be a wholesale distributor for a big French retailer.

The scam took place on October 21, and according to suppliers connected to the company, the cheese is believed to be smuggled to Russia or the Middle East. The fraud impacted the suppliers as well, which caused distress among them.

Whilethe British police have launched an investigation and are coordinating with international authorities to catch the culprits, the public and prominent figures in the world have shown great support to the cheese company.

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Jamie Oliver, a celebrity chef with 10.5 million Instagram followers, asked his followers to be vigilant from these frauds. “If anyone hears anything about posh cheese going for cheap, it’s probably some wrong’uns,” He said as reported by The Guardian.

The owner of the cheese company, Sarah Stewart, told the Times they had received messages of support, help, and new orders from around the globe. She said, “Clearly British people love their cheese but we have had a lot of really incredible people getting in touch, it seems like it’s gone international.” She added, “We’ve had producers that we buy from asking what they can do, can they offer extended terms and financial support, and trade customers saying ‘can we pay quicker and what can we do?’.”

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Tom Calver, the director of a supplier company that produced some of the stolen cheese, said he was very distressed when the news came out. Even after the scam, Neal’s Yard paid all the producers so that they don’t have to bear the loss “despite the significant financial blow,” as per The Guardian.

Calver said, “Neal’s Yard has been fantastic. We are just trying to support them as much as possible by encouraging people to shop with them. It is a huge, very difficult loss.”

He said, “What worries me is the trust element in things.” “At the end of the day what we need to have is more trust in the food supply system rather than less of it,” he added.

A police spokesperson said, “On Monday, October 21, we received a report of the theft of a large quantity of cheese from a manufacturer based in Southwark. Inquiries are ongoing into the circumstances. There has been no arrest.”

(With inputs from agencies)