With Woodbridge surrounded by supermarkets not only in the town but also in Martlesham and Saxmundham, visitors might be forgiven for thinking that good service, specialisation and links with local communities are dying out but the Sole Bay Cheese Co buck the trend. Providing more than 80 different cheeses from Suffolk, Norfolk, Spain, Holland, France, Norway and the rest of the UK, Woodbridge’s Thursday market can boast probably the biggest selection of cheeses outside London.

“We followed Mary Portas’s advice” said Sole Bay Cheese owner Carl Bennett. “We’ve always acknowledged that service, specialism and being involved with the local community are not just the key things that set us apart form supermarkets but one of the ways small businesses can compete with national chains.”

Sole Bay Cheese maintains a tradition of cheese-selling in Woodbridge Market dating back over 30 years and several different owners with their unique approach to cheese selling.  There are no labels on the cheeses and customers asking for 100 grammes or four ounces have to think again. Instead, every customer is offered a taste of the cheese and then asked how big a slice they need. “Our approach is more about customer satisfaction than quirkiness. Someone once asked for 74 grammes of a certain cheese. We offered to give it to them free if they could say how big a slice they needed. They didn’t take us up on the offer. Asking people how big a slice they’d like is not what people are used to in supermarkets. This way everyone knows what they are getting and most importantly, what the cheese is going to taste like before they get home. It doesn’t matter what it’s called, or what was in the weekend food reviews. We try to make sure no-one is ever disappointed” said Carl Bennett.

Sole Bay Cheese Co. is at the Hamblin Road Woodbridge Market every Thursday from 8am to 2pm and at Friday Street Farm Shop every Saturday as well as offering local deliveries.

Contact Sole Bay Cheese Co. on 07818 043 313 or visit www.solebaycheese.co.uk.