A radical new snacking cheese that resembles a chocolate bar is being developed by a group of Bedfordshire entrepreneurs.
Casa Verde Foods is working on a Bedfordshire cheese that will be launched in the form of a 50g snack bar "similar to a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar where you have little chunks of cheese in a bar and people can tear it off and offer it to a friend," said director Daniela Bagnoli. Casa Verde will run a competition to name the product in the autumn.
"We've lost our chocolate bar to the Americans," said Bagnoli, referring to Kraft's takeover of Cadbury. "We're replacing it with a cheese bar, which we think will sell quite well."
The cheese, which will initially be produced in small volumes, would appeal to consumers looking for a healthy, regionally produced snack, she said.
Casa Verde has been set up by Bagnoli and fellow directors Aldo Valerio and Anthony Davison with a 10-year plan to create a business selling cheese and meat products. An initial half-a-million pound investment has been made.
In the second phase Casa Verde will team up with an unnamed financial partner to set up a 1,000-strong goat herd under a subsidiary company, for which it will seek £2m of funding. It plans to use the herd to launch a regional goats cheese and to grow the market for goats meat, which was a healthy product that was growing in popularity, said Bagnoli.
She added that Bedfordshire would provide a good outlet for the product because of its ethnic communities. The company will also look to establish a cow herd under the subsidiary and will offer shares to farmer suppliers and the public.
Casa Verde has also been trialling several other products, including Mozzarella and Ricotta. "As resources get scarcer, we need to think about producing more food within the regions or boundaries of each county," Bagnoli said.
The company aims to build £1m in sales during its first year of trading.
Casa Verde Foods is working on a Bedfordshire cheese that will be launched in the form of a 50g snack bar "similar to a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar where you have little chunks of cheese in a bar and people can tear it off and offer it to a friend," said director Daniela Bagnoli. Casa Verde will run a competition to name the product in the autumn.
"We've lost our chocolate bar to the Americans," said Bagnoli, referring to Kraft's takeover of Cadbury. "We're replacing it with a cheese bar, which we think will sell quite well."
The cheese, which will initially be produced in small volumes, would appeal to consumers looking for a healthy, regionally produced snack, she said.
Casa Verde has been set up by Bagnoli and fellow directors Aldo Valerio and Anthony Davison with a 10-year plan to create a business selling cheese and meat products. An initial half-a-million pound investment has been made.
In the second phase Casa Verde will team up with an unnamed financial partner to set up a 1,000-strong goat herd under a subsidiary company, for which it will seek £2m of funding. It plans to use the herd to launch a regional goats cheese and to grow the market for goats meat, which was a healthy product that was growing in popularity, said Bagnoli.
She added that Bedfordshire would provide a good outlet for the product because of its ethnic communities. The company will also look to establish a cow herd under the subsidiary and will offer shares to farmer suppliers and the public.
Casa Verde has also been trialling several other products, including Mozzarella and Ricotta. "As resources get scarcer, we need to think about producing more food within the regions or boundaries of each county," Bagnoli said.
The company aims to build £1m in sales during its first year of trading.
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