I went shopping at Mega-COOP in Schönbühl today (near Bern) and was stunned to see Cheddar cheese there on sale I don't ever recall seeing cheddar in COOP or Migros before . This "Cathedral City" cheddar was "on sale", normally 5CHF for a 200g chunk, on sale for 4CHF, so that would imply they have it in stock usually ()? I never really go to this COOP, but I'm almost certain none of the other COOPs near me stock cheddar.

Can anyone else confirm or deny the existence of cheddar in your COOP?

It's been in Migros for 6 months, and at City Co Ops for quite a while.

yep, but it's not the best place to find a really good Cheddar.....

This is the home of Cathedral City. Nowhere near a Cathedral or City.

Google Street View

Cathedral? They look more like minarets .

OP, Cathedral City has been in the supermarkets here for a long time. To a purest of course, it's not real cheddar, but for most people it is close enough (and it's cheap)

You can buy 'Cathedral City' cheddar in some but not all Coop and Migros supermarkets.This is certainly the case in Lausanne.

It's a vegetarian cheese BTW,as are all cheeses by 'Cathedral City'.If you look carefully on the packaging,they have the 'V' logo.

Point taken. I'm sure your stuff is excellent, GG, but I must say, when you've not had any English cheese for months, Cathedral City is actually perfectly edible. Even tasty. And it reminds me just how different English cheese really is from Swiss.

Thanks for the replies everyone. It's been in COOP/Migros for months? Yikes, I should start opening my eyes when I go food shopping more often

I only saw "Extra Mild", at least I think that's what I bought (I should start opening my eyes in general I guess ). Do they have "sharp" cheddar also, or just this one flavor?

Oh, and I love the zip-lock bag it comes in too! Makes me feel unpretentious, or low-class, or whatever Gotta find me some wine in a "tetra-pak"next and I'll be all set

If it's in the black zip lock bag then I think you got extra mature. it's ideal for cheese on toast.

Agreed peterg, as I said, most (British) people are happy with Cathedral City as it's the type of Cheddar available in the UK supermarkets and there really is nothing like cheddar anywhere in Europe.

I've not noticed it pre-packaged in the Coop locations where I shop, always either directly at the deli counter or packaged by the deli counter and marked by weight. So far as I've seen, they only have the one "level" - not sharp or extra sharp.

Also, I believe it is the same Cathedral City brand at Coop, Migros (can't recall how it was packaged the one time I got it there) and Manor.

I love love love GG's cheeses that I've tried but for my budget, grating or slicing some Cathedral City cheddar into my "every day" meals is just fine. (I am saving my rappen to pick up some cheeses when GG is at Basel Expat Expo though)

just like many things in life - you get what you pay for...


(i will eat cenovis - but There Will Only Be One Vegemite(!))

u people have made my day,, cathedral city was my fave cheese back in the uk, it is the one thing that i miss the most so monday i am out searching. thank you

It's fine if you're in a location where they (Coop/Migros) think there might be an ex-pat demand, but unfortunately not in all cities.

Strangely enough, only today as I tried yet another berg käse from my local käserei, in search of a poor taste substitute for my Somerset fix, I thought of starting a thread to see if anyone had come close to finding a Swiss equivalent, although I doubted it.

Unfortunately I'm not well placed for GG's offerings, except for once every year, when he ventures down here to the bhunies, for the games of the "sweaties".

Yep, it's been in our local mini-Migros for at least 5 years. I agree about it being an "imitation" Cheddar. Tastes greasy and leaks fat all over the place when you cook with it - .

I forgot to add that you tend to find 'Cathedral City' in the bigger Coop/Migros supermarkets.

Arrgghhh, we are the only expat around - and neither Coop or Migros stock it - and it's too far to go to Zurich I live in Jura/Comté/Morbier region, and we love it all, but Cheddar (and Stilton as we are from East Leics) are still favourites.

I got "extra mature" in a red bag (just checked)

As you can see I'm not a cheese connoisseur, the "non-real" cheese is not just pure chemicals, it's still made with milk right? Normally I buy Gruyere cheese, or any of the Emmi "Kaltbach" stuff, that's some good stuff (is Emmi Swiss-wide, or is it just local in the Bern area?)

And yea, I'm stunned to hear cheddar has been around in COOP/Migros for a while, I really never saw it. I haven't been hunting it madly, but do look every now and then. I guess it's only certain COOP/Migros.

They produce five varieties. Their top of the range, Vintage, is the one in the black pack.

You can get it from the online shop so you don't have to trawl around the local branches in search of it.