Martell looks for licensing tie-ups
Charles Martell, the man behind “Britain’s smelliest cheese”, Stinking Bishop, has signed a licensing deal that could see the artisan brand appear in crisps, biscuits, sachet soups and other products.
The cheesemaker has linked up with with brand extension consultancy The Point 1888 to exploit the name of the handmade, 50-tonnes-a-year cheese that found fame in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
“Being so well-known, we thought it was something worth looking at, so we are” said Martell, who has also recently launched a new cheese called Slack-ma-Girdle.
Martell said it was his personal opinion that Stinking Bishop-flavoured crisps would work well, as would savoury biscuits – areas that Will Stewart, The Point’s managing director, confirmed he was looking at.
“It’s an incredible product that has high brand awareness,” Stewart said of the cheese, which was once described as smelling like “a rugby club changing room”. He added that the story behind it also made it appealing for tie-ups.
Stewart said he looked forward to finding “like-minded manufacturers to expand the reach of the Stinking Bishop brand”.
He said there was massive growth in the cracker and crisp crossover market and Stinking Bishop would work well as a flavouring or as a specific partner to a new cracker variety.
He also suggested Stinking Bishop seasoning for adding to other dishes such as pasta. “Croutons would be really interesting, too,” he added.
Both Stewart and Martell said they could see the cheese, which has been made for more than 40 years at Martell’s family farm in Gloucestershire, working in a tie-up with real ale.
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