Maple leaf for cheddar A new trademark for Canadian Cheddar is being introduced by Canadian Cheese Holdings, which handles the bulk of the product shipped to this country. "We want customers to know they are getting a consistent premium product, matured for at least two years," commmercial director Roger Norton told The Grocer. Canadian Cheddar has been sold by Sainsbury since 1896 and has remained a strong traditional line for the multiple ever since. Former Sainsbury buyer and now CCH commodity director John Layzell has been travelling to Canada for about 20 years to grade cheddar for the UK trade. "It is a firm bodied and close textured cheese, pale in colour and with a slight acidity," he explains. The manufacturing process involves a heat treatment of the milk rather than full pasteurisation, giving the characteristic range of flavour. The subsequent treatment of the curd gives it a lower moisture content than other cheddars. Cheeses are graded and shipped at a year old and matured in the UK until they are between two and three years. While it is possible to find Canadian cheeses of four and five years, they are not typical of the mainstream cheeses on the domestic market. The trade is being shown a new, branded product from the CCH stable which is likely to make its mark in the independents, once established in the multiple trade. {{PROVISIONS }}

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