By Brianna Morris-Grant, ABC
Twenty-two tonnes of clothbound cheeses have seemingly vanished into thin air Photo: Screenshot / Instagram nealsyarddairy
When a French supermarket placed an order at Neal's Yard Dairy in London, it seemed too good to be true.
The London-based artisan cheese seller was ecstatic - the order for 22 tonnes of cheddar was one of the largest they had ever received.
The sheer size of the order forced them to enlist three different cheese producers to meet the demand.
But their initial reaction - that the whole thing was just too good to be true - turned out to be correct.
There was no deal with a French supermarket chain.
The 300,000 British pounds (NZ$650,367) owed was never going to be paid.
And the 22 tonnes of clothbound cheeses have seemingly vanished into thin air.
Work 'beyond estimation' needed to fulfil fraudulent order
The fraudulent buyer, according to the team behind Neal's Yard Dairy, first approached them in July.
They were told they were dealing with a "legitimate wholesale distributor" for the French retailer.
Patrick Holden's dairy farm in Wales was one of the three tasked with filling the order, which consisted of more than 950 cheese wheels.
"We'd been going around, proudly, saying, 'Guess what, a French supermarket is buying our cheese'," Holden told the New York Times.
"We never thought that would happen. Well, turns out, it hasn't."
Earlier this month, Neal's Yard Dairy took the theft public as a warning to anyone looking to buy cheese. Photo: Screenshot / Instagram nealsyarddairy
All the cheeses purchased, including "Hafod, Westcombe and Pitchfork" cheddars, were highly valued and in some cases award-winning.
In Holden's case, he told The Independent, the recipe was 100 years old.
"Our cheese is limited in quantity, but we had it in storage and we worked out [what we gave for the order] was the most we could spare," he said.
The cheese was delivered by Neal's Yard Dairy to a warehouse in south-east London, where it was set to be collected by the distributor.
Payment was due in the first week of October.
When the money did not arrive, Neal's Yard Dairy tried to follow up with the distributor.
But by that time, they said, all lines of communication had gone dead.
Westcombe Dairy's Tom Calver told the BBC the process of making the cheeses "started almost three years ago".
"The amount of work that's gone into nurturing the cows, emphasising the best farming practice, and transforming the milk one batch at a time to produce the best possible cheese is beyond estimation," he said.
'For that to be stolen... it's absolutely terrible."
After weeks of trying to track down the buyer for payment, Neal's Yard Dairy called the police.
'Some of the best cheddar cheese in the world has been stolen'
Earlier this month, Neal's Yard Dairy took the theft public as a warning to anyone looking to buy cheese.
"We are currently working with law enforcement authorities to identify the perpetrators of this fraud," they wrote.
"In the meantime, we would like to put out a call to everyone within our esteemed community of cheesemongers around the world.
'If anyone is offered or receives cheeses they believe may have been associated with this theft, particularly clothbound cheddars in a 10kg or 24kg format with the tags detached, please contact [us] so we can support the... investigation."
They added that "despite the significant financial blow", they had still paid all three cheesemakers "in full".
The announcement made international headlines and stunned members of the food world.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver took to Instagram, urging his followers to also be on the lookout.
"There has been a great cheese robbery," he wrote.
"Some of the best cheddar cheese in the world has been stolen.
"If anyone hears anything about posh cheese going for cheap, it's probably some wrong'uns."
London's Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating the theft.
Man arrested, but cheese still missing
A 63-year-old man has since been arrested "on suspicion of fraud by false representation and handling stolen goods", according to a Scotland Yard spokesman.
The man was questioned at a police station in South London before being released on bail.
No further details have been released about the man - or about where the 950 cheese wheels could have gone.
Some of the suppliers involved have suggested trying to sell the cheeses in the UK, Europe or Australia would prove difficult for thieves.
British food writer Patrick McGuigan told the New York Times: "It's a bit like... if you steal a Van Gogh painting, it's quite hard to sell it because everybody knows it's a Van Gogh painting."
The cheeses may have been already shipped abroad to be sold to buyers in Russia or the Middle East, Mr Holden told media, "because people won't ask questions there".
"I think if they tried to sell it closer to home, they'd find it difficult because the international artisan community is very connected," he said.
"If they tried to sell it in North America, where we sell a lot of Hafod, or even Australia, believe it or not, the balloon would go up because people would ask questions."
Jamie Oliver, in his online appeal, also questioned what might happen to the stolen goods.
"Are they going to un-peel it from the cloth, and cut it and grate it and get rid of it in the fast food industry, in the commercial industry?" he asked followers.
"I don't know. It seems like a really weird thing to nick."
The investigation is ongoing.
- ABC
