Cheesegeek was established in 2017 by Edward Hancock, who came from the Fund Management world, not the food industry, but had a desire to share his passion for cheese.
The company launched a cheese subscription service in 2019. It provides subscribers with five seasonal cheeses each month, resulting in 60 different cheeses annually. Subscribers can opt for packages to arrive every four, eight, or 12 weeks, with free scheduled delivery.
For those who aren’t partial to blue cheese, there is an option to emit it. Alongside an opt-out option on goats cheese too.
In 2023, Hancock appeared on the SubX podcast to share his insights on maintaining the relevance of product subscriptions.
He said: “[The] challenge is how do we remain exciting and relevant. The first playbook is just experience and making sure your product is exciting and making sure that you communicate with them at the right times to keep them going until, say the seventh month or the seventh box.
“After that point, it’s really a case of how do we stay relevant? How do we stay on page one of their phone? How do we keep them using us, interacting with us, engaging with us?
“And one of the most important parts is that personalisation. You need to ensure that the subscriber continues to feel that their experience is becoming more and more curated to them. What we want to do is we want to bring in a full level of customisation,” concluded Hancock.
As well as a subscription service, Cheesgeek provides a build-a-board offering, gifting services and wholesale operations.
In January 2025, the brand partnered with Selfridges to supply them with “a wide range of the finest cheeses in the world”.
“Growing up, trips to London were so often built around a visit to the Selfridges Food Hall. Nothing else quite matched the range and quality of fine foods on offer. But there was also an underlying innovation and modernity that really made Selfridges stand out,” noted Hancock in a statement announcing the partnership.
The full episode is available to listen back to, here. Cheekgeek is joined by Sam Connolly, senior ecommerce manager at Origin Coffee, listen to discover:
- What impact the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis had on the subscription economy
- How retailers, or coffee roasters, can transition to a subscription model
- Why automating the curation process can future proof a product subscription business
- What can be done to match an in-store experience in an direct-to-consumer subscription service
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