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Cheese isn’t toward the top of the list of items most people would expect to be at the center of a massive criminal heist, but a retailer in the United Kingdom is dealing with the fallout of a scam it says has led to some massive losses.
France and Italy tend to get most of the glory when it comes to the European countries known for cheese, but Great Britain can also hold its own on that particular front thanks to the cheddar the country is known for (that particular variety takes its name from the village in England where it was first produced).
According to the BBC, artisanal cheesemakers in the country produce aged cheddar that can sell for upwards of $27 a pound, and they appeared to be in for a sizeable payday when someone claiming to represent a chain of supermarkets in France approached London-based Neal’s Yard Dairy to place an order for 22 metric tonnes (approximately 4.85 million pounds) over the summer.
The size of that request required the company to recruit three cheesemakers to fulfill the order that was shipped off to France in September, but things took a turn for the worse when they failed to receive the £300,000 (~$390,000) they charged the buyer who went radio silent as soon as the cheddar was delivered.
David Lockwood, a partner at Neal’s Yard Dairy, says the company subsequently contacted the police, who told The New York Times they’re currently investigating “the theft of a large quantity of cheese.” The company confirmed the trio of producers were compensated for the cheddar that was taken, and they’re pessimistic about the possibility of recouping some of the lost funds via an insurance claim.
It’s unclear where the cheese ended up once it left London, although one of the suppliers believes it was shipped off to Russia or the Middle East due to the relative lack of scrutiny its arrival on the black market has the potential to attract compared to other countries where the thieves would have a harder time finding potential buyers who may be more inquisitive about its origins.