Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Cheese keeps best when you buy it as an uncut round. If you’re buying a cut piece of cheese you should eat it as soon as possible from when you receive your order. Generally we would advise to eat your cheese within two weeks of purchase. We would advise you to rewrap your cheese in the paper it’s sold in (or you can use cling film or baking paper) after cutting. It then should be stored in a refrigerator to slow the maturation process and the growth of any mould on the cheese’s cut surfaces. The refrigerator has the tendency to dry cheese out so we would recommend keeping your cheese wrapped and in a Tupperware box within the fridge to contain humidity and prevent your cheese absorbing the flavours of other products in your fridge.

We recommend to rewrap your cheese in the paper it arrives in. We’re also happy to provide you with some extra sheets of cheese wrapping paper for your use at
home. You can also use cling film, baking paper or tin foil to wrap your cheese but these may cause the cheese to sweat and the flavour to change.

• We label the cheeses we send from our online shop with best before dates rather than use by dates to indicate the window in which we think the cheese is at its best quality. As cheese maturers we select cheeses for our customers that we think are at their best in terms of age and flavour profile. The best before date we provide indicates to consume your cheese within two weeks of delivery so that you can experience them at their best. Beyond that date does not necessarily mean that you have to throw the rest away if you haven’t finished it but we would advise that the flavour and texture will change the longer you have it and won’t be the same quality as what we have initially selected for you. If you’re buying cheese for a particular event, buy it as close as possible to when you want to serve it. If you want it to last for a longer period we’d recommend buying a larger piece as they tend to last longer.
• If you have a specific concern about the shelf life and quality of your cheese, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7064 6912 or info@mons-cheese.co.uk. We are happy to advise on any concerns you might have.

We would recommend serving your cheese at room temperature as the flavours become quite bland and muted if your cheese is too cold. Take your cheese out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before you plan to serve it to allow it to reach room temperature. Keep it wrapped up until you’re ready to serve so you can avoid the risk of it drying out.

If you’re buying cheese for after a dinner, we recommend between about 100 and 150 grams of cheese per person. If it’s going to be the focus of a meal we’d recommend a bit more at between 150 and 200 grams.

• Pasteurising cheese involves heating milk up to 72 degrees Celsius, which eradicates any pathogens (bad bacteria) that are present at the time of pasteurisation. Many large-scale cheese producers use pasteurisation as a control for food safety reasons, but this process also destroys all the good bacteria that comes with raw milk as well as any pathogens that may or may not be present.
• Unpasteurised cheese – or raw milk cheese - is not heat treated at all. It is largely the smaller producers that leave their milk raw because they are confident in the quality of their milk and their hygiene practices on their farms and in their cheese rooms. This allows the natural flora (the good bacteria) in the milk to flourish and often encourages more depth in the flavour of a cheese.
  

While we do not offer medical advice for those who are pregnant or immunocompromised, we can share what we know about cheese. Pasteurisation does eliminate any present bacteria in milk, but it does not prevent any from growing. It is best for those who are pregnant or immunocompromised to avoid any soft, semi-soft or blue cheeses (regardless of whether they are pasteurised or not) that would have the risk of containing Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that causes Listeriosis. Listeria grows in high moisture and low acidity cheeses so any of the previously mentioned cheeses are a risk to customers in the high risk groups. Hard cheeses that have been aged for a year or more (like Comte, Gruyere or Cheddar) are safe to eat because they are a hostile environment to the growth of harmful bacteria. This is due to the fact that they are low moisture and high acidity; Listeria simply cannot survive in such an inhospitable environment. The presence of Listeria in cheese is not natural and indicates contamination of either the milk or the environment that the cheese is made in or matured in. We are confident in our safety and hygiene standards in order to minimise the risk of contamination in our cheeses, but regardless we would advise customers who are considered high risk to avoid any soft, semi-soft or blue cheese.

Most of our cheeses contain animal rennet, an enzyme used to coagulate milk and an essential part of cheesemaking. This is obtained from the fourth stomach of an unweaned calf and is not suitable for vegetarians. There is vegetarian rennet used in the making of some cheeses that is produced artificially by fermenting and purifying moulds in a laboratory or using a GMO organism to produce the rennet enzyme needed for coagulation. Unfortunately, most continental cheesemakers do not use vegetarian rennet, it is more commonly found in British cheeses. The only vegetarian cheese we currently stock is the Colston Bassett Stilton.

All the rinds on our cheeses are natural edible rinds, except for Gouda which has a wax coating which is inedible (and not very tasty). If you like the taste of any of edible rinds please feel free to eat as much or as little as you like

• For blue cheeses, like Roquefort, Fourme d’Ambert, Stilton and others, cheesemakers add naturally occurring blue mould spores to the body of the cheese in order to help break it down and develop the strong flavours and appearance we’ve come to associated with this type of cheese.
• Sometimes other cheeses can develop blue mould that you wouldn’t expect. If air penetrates the rind of the cheese it can trigger the naturally-occurring mould spores to grow. This blue is not harmful and it is safe to eat. If you try it and find you don’t like the flavour please do not hesitate to contact us and we’d be happy to replace it for you.

• At checkout, you will be able to choose the date you would like your cheese to arrive. You can order cheese for home delivery or in-store collection up to 1 year in advance of the date you wish to receive it. If your order is for a specific event, we recommend requesting delivery 2 to 3 days in advance of the date itself to allow for the correction of any delays or difficulties which may arise in transport.
• We need some preparation time for your order and typically require 48 hours notice for all orders, although during peak times this can be longer. We do not offer next day delivery.

• We offer delivery throughout mainland UK. If you live outside the main island and wish to place an order, please visit out contact page and send us details of the location you would like us to ship to and we will respond with the shipping details and costs required.
• Areas we define as non-mainland are: the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, Northern Ireland and remote Scottish islands. We typically do not send cheese further afield than the U.K as we cannot guarantee the cheeses will arrive in their best condition.

• Orders can be delivered on either Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday – please select your preferred delivery day at checkout. Click and collect options at our London stores are available Tuesday-Sunday.
• All our deliveries are sent via ‘standard delivery’, which means your order can arrive anytime between 7:30am – 7:30pm on your chosen delivery day. Our couriers endeavour to deliver your order on your chosen delivery date; however there may be occasional delays in service.
• Most deliveries are sent via a courier (usually DPD) who will give you a one-hour timeslot to expect you’re to arrive in. This is sent via either email or text message on the day of dispatch. If you are not going to be in please refer to their app or website for the options available to you.
• Selected local deliveries in parts of South London are sent via our local drivers, who unfortunately cannot provide shipment updates.
• If you are having problems tracking your delivery or would like up-to-date delivery details on the day of delivery please call us on 0207 064 6912 and we will be happy to help.

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Yes, we charge £7.95 for standard delivery. However, we offer free shipping on all orders over £75. There is no minimum order value required for shipments.

We pack your order in a bespoke cardboard box we’ve designed to enable your cheese to arrive with you in the best condition possible. We use a combination of WoolCool liners and frozen gel packs to keep your cheese cool in transit, as well as some wood wool to cushion and protect your order from any potential damage. We have two sizes of boxes, the smaller to fit several cheeses and perhaps a couple of jars of chutney, the larger is designed to fit more cheese plus a bottle of wine or cider in there too.

• If you wish to amend or cancel an order we recommend calling us on 0207 0646912 for immediate amendment. Alternatively get in touch via our contact page.
• It is possible to both add and remove products from your delivery, however we prefer for any order changes to occur 48 prior to dispatch.

• It is always advisable to be at home for when your delivery arrives, but it is not mandatory. If your delivery is sent via our courier (typically DPD) they will provide you with an hour timeslot on the day of your delivery. If you are not at home during this time they offer a number of alternative delivery options on their website and app for you to choose from.
• If your delivery is sent with one of our local drivers and you are not home when they arrive they will contact you via telephone to gain details of an alternative delivery location. If you are unable to take their call they will leave the package in a safe place at your property or with a neighbour and provide you with location details.
  

Please firstly refer to your order tracking information to see the location of your order and if there are any issues. If there are either no details or there is a delivery update that you do not understand please call us immediately on 0207 0646912 and we will follow up on your behalf.

When your delivery arrives please double check the items correspond to what was ordered and then immediately refrigerate the fresh products. If there are any discrepancies in what was delivered to what was ordered, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If there is any issue with your order please do not hesitate to get in touch via our contact page or call us on 0207 064 6912 and we will be happy to answer any queries as soon as we can.