How Four Mobile Cheesemongers Bring Cheese to the People

Cheesemonger is the British word for a person who sells cheese, behind a counter. But cheesemongers aren’t limited to the traditional retail setting. Instead of being stuck behind a counter, mobile cheesemongers bring their love of cheese to breweries, wineries, farmer’s markets, industry events, and more.

While a counter in a store may offer a wide selection of cheese, getting out from behind a counter allows cheesemongers to focus on a more curated selection, to be an educator and an ambassador for artisan cheese and to carve out their own unique role. We reached out to 4 mobile cheesemongers to learn more about the challenges and opportunities of going mobile.

Merchant & Monger

Emily O’Conor got her start in cheese after she moved to Bordeaux, France. There she was welcomed by cheese people and it left an impression. When she and her husband Philip moved to Sonoma, California she got a job working in a cheese program at a local grocery store, eventually becoming the buyer, before stepping away to spend more time with her family.

The O’Conors decided to open up Merchant & Monger in 2022 to provide local wineries with pop up cheese events. Philip is the wine merchant and Emily is the monger. “We were able to just show up there with our little case and dry goods,” Emily O’Conor of Merchant & Monger explained.

They also do cheese and wine pairings as well as charcuterie and cheese cones, which “feature 2 kinds of cured meat, 2-3 types of cheese, nuts, and fruit,” explained O’Conor, that are rolled up into a cone. They are basically walking logos, O’Conor said. In California, it’s generally nice enough that people can go to towns and go from tasting room to tasting room. With these cones, “they can grab a little snack in between and then go on to their next tasting and not be too wasted,” O’Conor noted.

Small is Beautiful

For O’Conor, one of the big advantages of mobile cheesemonger is the flexibility. The O’Conors are not tied to a storefront that has to be open seven or six days a week. It allows O’Conor and her husband Philip O’Conor to spend more time with their children.

Also, a big bonus is that they don’t have to worry about moving merchandise before it goes bad. Cheese has a limited shelf-life, some cheeses more than others. Without a shop, Merchant & Monger can order smaller quantities every week.

Another benefit is the lower barrier to entry. “Rents are really expensive in this area,” O’Conor explained, “doing this brick and mortar shop, just seemed like a little too much.” All Merchant & Monger needs is a little tabletop case, wine contacts, and the cheese itself.

Challenging Logistics

However, that does not mean that mobile cheese mongering does not have its own challenges. “We’re open on the weekends, and you don't get your cheese delivered on the weekend; you get your cheese delivered, usually on Thursday. So [I had to try] to figure out a place where I could have my cheese delivered,” O’Conor said. Rules and regulations require that O’Conor have a commissary kitchen to store and prepare the food. Sometimes O’Conor finds herself running around picking up the cheese herself, which can take time and a lot of logistical planning.

Ultimately, O’Conor “learned that there is potential for this kind of small business.” She was surprised that chefs didn’t work with distributors but realized that chefs may know a lot about food but there’s so much in cheese, it can be daunting. “There's room to be a kind of interpreter to help people find the right selection,” said O’Conor.

The Mobile Monger

Seattle based Janee’ Muha, The Mobile Monger, has taken a different approach. Instead of wineries, Muha works her magic at industry events and in-store demonstrations of foods at grocery stores.

She had gotten her start in cheese, working the cheese counter at Whole Foods. After competing in the Cheesemonger Invitational in 2016, she saw how big the cheese world was beyond what she knew from her time at Whole Foods. “It just kind of really spurned me to think outside of the corporate structure,” Muha explained.

While she tried a “million things” since Whole Foods, including her own demonstration company before the pandemic. She benefited from all the connections she had in the cheese world and her time at Whole Foods: “My experience working at Whole Foods means that I know what a good demo person looks like; somebody who can actually engage the customers and actually sell the product.”

Being Nimble

The pandemic obviously proved a challenge since no one was doing in-store demonstrations. She ended up expanding into industry events “representing companies at industry events that they can't make it to.” Now demos are back on the menu and she’ll help promote different cheeses in grocery stores again.

Engaging with Customers

One of the best parts of the job for Muha is getting to focus on the selling of cheese. She said, “When I was working behind the counter at Whole Foods, I always felt like it was almost a waste of time, because I had this laundry list of things I needed to do.” Now as a mobile cheesemonger, her job is to solely sell cheese. “There's nothing else that I could or should be doing,” Muha explained.

However, there’s uncertainty. A 40-hour week is not guaranteed and there is definitely seasonality to demos. “There are definitely seasons for demos like around the holidays, it gets really busy. But then January and February, you're not seeing much business at all,” Muha said.

The Salty Cow

Based in Gainesville, Florida, Daniel Shaw, aka the Cheese Man, also found his way to cheese through working at Whole Foods. After several years, he left to start doing private dinners for people in their homes with cheese, beer and wine tastings. “I made almost twice as much on my side gig as I did for my regular job,” Shaw said and that made him think he could make it work as his main job.

When a friend called him up asking for information about buying and selling cheese at farmer’s markets, it made Shaw realize that maybe he could make this full-time. He brought his skills to farmer’s markets as well as breweries in the area and incorporated his business, The Salty Cow Llc.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Being Self Employed

Shaw said that the big advantage to his job is the community aspect. Shaw said, “I feel more connected to a lot more people that do this kind of stuff than I ever did before.”

But he does appreciate having a team; he did start the business with a partner but now he’s solo. That means having to figure a lot of things out on his own, such as accounting and processing. “There's a lot to know that you wouldn't even think to ask about and when you start doing it all for yourself, you have a very, very different appreciation for it all,” Shaw said. Of course, there’s the cost of gas driving to events but for Shaw, the benefits outweigh the risks.

“I've worked in kitchens most of my life. Before that I did construction, so building things to suit my needs wasn't that big of a deal. There's an endless amount of work to do if you want to do it by yourself,” Shaw noted.

New Curds on the Block

Based in Oakville, Connecticut, Kate Truini has made the leap from mobile cheese mongering to a brick and mortar cheese shop, New Curds on the Block. Truini started in cheese working on farms and managing an off the grid artists residents program. She decided to focus on cheese, working at Greenwich Cheese Company, and then moved on to Saxelby Cheesemongers.

But the pandemic hit and interrupted her work at Saxelby. “It also kind of forced my hand into starting my own business,” Truini explained. She knew she loved working with cheese and customers. So in 2020, she had the idea for a cheese tricycle since she didn’t want the commitment of a brick and mortar. “I want to be out and doing markets and pop up events and serving people in this kind of more transient capacity,” she recalled.

While the cheese tricycle did not come into being--thanks to all the hills in CT-- she has a Honda CRV filled with coolers. “I kind of stripped away down to the bare bare minimums; all I really need is myself and a table and some refrigeration,” she explained. And then she began the farmer’s market circuit as well as winery/brewery tastings.

Testing the Market

One of the big advantages for Truini of mobile mongering was her ability to work in different markets. “I cast a pretty wide net with where I did farmers markets and so I didn't have to commit to one like demographic. I got to travel all over the state and figure out where it might be a good place for me to invest my time, longer term,” she said.

Plus farmer’s markets are a great hub for information. She got to know her fellow farmer market business owners who shared their knowledge and provided community. Now her Rolodex is filled with pickle makers, jammers, and more cheesemakers.

Staying Local

Since Truini traveled all over the state and region, she decided to focus on sourcing her cheese as close to the area as possible. “I get it right from the cheesemakers,” Truini said, “I get to have a relationship with all the people that I source from.” And that means selling what the cheesemakers have available, given seasonality and aging of cheeses.

A Steppingstone to Brick and Mortar

Driving all over the state to collect cheese and go to markets was exhausting. “I knew that the mobile model wasn't going to be forever, but I didn't know what it was going to look like on the other side. I think the seasonal burnout is pretty significant,” she said. She also had to keep moving the product, especially since so much of it was fresh, and needed a place to keep it.

She and her partner Zach, a fishmonger, were looking for a commercial kitchen to be able to store the cheese and other perishable foods. Eventually they came across a space that had commercial kitchen capability and a small storefront.

Previously, if customers asked where they could find her, there wasn’t an easy way beyond social media to track her. Now Truini can point them to their new shop. Plus, they can be open year-round, instead of just during the farmer’s market season, which is very weather dependent.

But owning a shop is completely different from mobile mongering. “I would describe mobile mongering as almost like, you're in this like fight or flight mode. My brain is always like, I have to buy it and sell it. Don't sit on any inventory,” Truini said. “Having a shop now… the product moves at a much different pace.”

Mobile cheese mongering really helped Truini cut down the business to the essentials. She focused on selling the cheese without making a big investment. But for her, she was laying the fundamentals of her business so when she did open her shop, she had two years of customers to bring to it. Ultimately, Truini said, “if you do have the tenacity to bootstrap it, it can be really worthwhile.”

Flexibility and Focus

Flexibility and focus are some of the biggest benefits to mobile cheesemongering. The O’Conors can run their business while spending time with their family; Muha can focus on just selling cheese instead of all the other logistics of running a cheese counter.

Of course, mobile mongering comes with its disadvantages. Finding a commissary kitchen is key to be in compliance with state laws as well as having to drive around to source cheese or go from location to location. Weather plays a role for outdoor events; whereas cheese events may not be a steady 9-5 so there may be more downtime and a need to hustle business in a different way. Plus all the logistics behind paperwork, taxes, etc. are all on your shoulders.

But these cheesemongers are showing that mobile mongering can be a great opportunity for the long term or as a short term transitional move.

Cheese on the Move: How 4 Mobile Cheesemongers Bring Cheese to the People