UK Wide - Free Cheese Knowledge Tour

practical training for everyone working with cheese

Join our 16-stop UK tour for free, practical training designed by independent producers to sharpen your expertise.

OUR MISSION

To deliver free education for everyone working with cheese, from farm shops to chefs, from first counter jobs to wholesale careers, funded by producers who believe knowledge builds a more confident market.

WHO WE HELP TRAIN

Farm
Shops

Your cheese counter is one of your highest-margin opportunities. Give your team the knowledge to talk about British and Irish cheese with confidence and turn browsers into buyers.

Deli
Counters

The best thing behind a deli counter is someone who genuinely knows what they're selling. We give counter staff the confidence to recommend, describe and sell with authority every day.

Wholesale & Distribution

Better product knowledge means stronger ranging decisions and better conversations with your retail customers. We help wholesale & distribution understand the cheese they represent & why it matters.

Chefs & Hospitality

From curating a cheese course to answering a guest's question at the table knowing your cheese changes everything. We give hospitality teams the product knowledge to do it properly.

And
Many More

Buyer, food hall manager, restaurant buyer or just starting out if cheese is part of what you do, there is a place for you on the CK Tour.

EXCELLENT
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Based on 34 reviews
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Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover profile picture
Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover
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Very interesting. Well worth attending and I learnt a great deal
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Kiran Shahzadi profile picture
Kiran Shahzadi
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I have met Tanny today on a lovely cheese event. It was a superb experience with him. He is fabulous, quite knowledgeable and really engaging. I got a lot of information about makers as i am visiting them by myself. I wish him luck because what he is doing is outstanding. Hopefully, will meet again in next event to get more knowledge out of him. Thanks Tanny!!!! You are amazing 🤩 Good luck
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Vinay Gajria profile picture
Vinay Gajria
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Had an exceptional experience as I attended the cheese knowledge tour in London held by Tanny. With his immense expertise, he made sure we gain enough knowledge to go out there in the field of hospitality and speak with confidence. Kudos to him being a one man army and arranging it all the way from Scotland. Highly recommended.
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Kara Bowen profile picture
Kara Bowen
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Best day in a long time!! Charming articulate host who drew everyone in and made it the most interactive educational day
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Cristina Gonzalez profile picture
Cristina Gonzalez
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It was a remarkable good session. I learnt so many things. Thanks a lot Tanny Gill
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Eva Thorne profile picture
Eva Thorne
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Tanny has deep knowledge of cheese! Really fascinating!!
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Annabelle Robinson profile picture
Annabelle Robinson
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What an amazing day on the Cheese Knowledge Tour at Shepherds Purse. Tanny is incredibly knowledgeable and engaging, with a real gift for bringing cheese and the stories behind it to life. We explored everything from tasting cheese properly and understanding pairings to the history of cheese, different milks, British and world cheeses, and the producers behind them. I particularly valued learning how to communicate those stories to customers and what cheesemongers and delis look for when choosing their cheeses. The tour of the Shepherds Purse factory was a real highlight. Seeing the production and learning how whey is removed to create different types of cheese gave me a much deeper appreciation of the skill involved. Tanny was a wonderful host, and it was lovely to meet such enthusiastic cheesemongers. I came away full of ideas and with so much more knowledge. Highly recommended to anyone working with or selling cheese. Thank you, Tanny, for such a fascinating and enjoyable day.
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Su Davies profile picture
Su Davies
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Four of us from Gloucester Services attended this course with the added bonus of it being held at Brinkworth Dairy (thank you Ceri and team for our dairy tour). I personally have attended a couple of cheese training courses and I feel this was the most enjoyable so far. We covered a good range of topics to suit all ranges of previous experience. Tanning was amazing, very knowledgeable, humble and created such a relaxing learning day for us all. There were lots of laughs and shared experiences, the cheeses we sampled were delicious and Tanning went out of his way to make sure everyone felt comfortable. The whole day was a solid 10/10 and hard to believe it was a free course. Thank you so much Tanning Gill for a fab training day.
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Helen Blackwood profile picture
Helen Blackwood
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I had a fantastic day, the course was enjoyable, interesting and I felt I learnt the lot and feel more knowledgeable about cheese now. Tanny Gill was a fantastic trainer, he made it fun, made everyone feel at ease and got everyone interacting. It definitely has been one of the best courses I have been on. Special thankyou to Kerry from Brinkworth Dairy for making us so welcome and showing us around the farm , we all had an amazing day 🙏🏻

What to expect on your FREE tour day

We provide a full day of commercially-focused cheese training, specifically designed to help you sell the products your customers want. This isn’t just theory; it’s a practical toolkit for modern food businesses.

On the day, we dive into:

  • The Essentials: Understanding milk profiles and regionality through the lens of our five founding producers.
  • Sensory Sales: Learning to describe flavors in a way that resonates with your specific customer base.
  • Counter Skills: Professional techniques for precision and practical cutting and high-impact presentation.
  • Maximizing Margin: Strategic pairing of cheese with drinks and pantry staples to boost your average transaction value.
  • Stock Strategy: How to curate a high-performing range and manage seasonal demand cycles.
  • Partner Stories: Direct insights from our founding makers—giving you the "story behind the cheese" to share across the counter.

We run sessions across the UK & Ireland in 2026 - Edinburgh, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Bristol, Manchester, London, Glasgow, and more. Hit Find a Course Near You to see dates and register for free.

OUR VALUES

Knowledge
Drives
Sales

Training designed to build confidence and turn understanding into practical, commercial value from day one.

Built for
customer-facing
teams

Practical and relevant not academic. Created for retail & hospitality environments for everyday customer conversations.

Producer-backed,
education-led

Funded by producers, focused on building knowledge and confidence across the category.

Provenance
creates
value

Stories of origin and craft help sell. Provenance builds confidence and supports stronger relations and sales?

A growing
Cheese
Community

Open to all deli counter roles, seasoned buyers & hospitality teams. Shared knowledge strengthens the community.

Meet the partners

We are able to deliver these free courses thanks to the support from some great companies.

The Cheese Knowledge Tour is made possible by six founding producers: Carron Lodge, Cooleeney Cheese, Long Clawson Dairy, Isle of Mull Cheese, Stag Bakeries, and Gruyère.

Their products feature throughout the training as real, sourceable examples - not advertising. They fund the programme because they believe that a more educated cheese community is good for the whole industry.

Stag Bakeries
Carron Lodge
Clawson Farms
Isle Of Mull Cheese
Gruyere Cheese
Cooleeney Farm Cheese

We are able to deliver these free courses thanks to the support from some great companies