World’s first Castello® pop-up store opened in The Netherlands

It’s all about cheese: On October 25th, Castello®, Arla’s global premium cheese brand, officially opened its first pop-up store in The Netherlands.

The purpose of this colourful ‘experience store’ is to take consumers on a unique culinary journey through the world of speciality cheese. Until the end of the year, the Castello® store will be located in the New Babylon shopping mall in The Hague. The idea is to have it travel around the world and appear in cities such as London, Stockholm, Berlin, Copenhagen and New York.

Pairing food – delicate culinary experiences

In the Castello® store, cheese lovers can taste more than 40 extraordinary cheeses – all of them in combination with delicious wines, chutneys, jams or crackers. Sales colleagues will be on hand to advise on the best food pairings, for example, Aged Havarti is a perfect match with caramelized onion chutney and a Rioja, whereas Creamy Blue teams up best with Greengage Plum Confit and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

“The Castello® brand is all about discovering cheese and experiencing it in many different ways. We want to open the door to a new cheese world for our consumers and generate enthusiasm about cheese. The world of speciality cheese often seems too complex for people, which is why we aim to democratize it by making it accessible for everyone,” explains Jimke Scholten, Senior Brand Manager Cheese at Arla Netherlands and within the Dutch team responsible for developing the Castello® pop-up store.

A pop-up store with a special story

The store tells the story of the Danish visionary Rasmus Tholstrup and his family. The Castello® story began in 1893, when young Tholstrup dedicated his life to cheese-making and travelled around the world to gain experience and knowledge. Today Castello® offers traditional blue cheese such as Danablu next to Swedish Kvibille® and the Bavarian cheeses made of mountain milk from the Alps.

“Taste is enhanced if there’s a story behind it. If you know the background to what you are tasting, food really comes to life and you can enjoy it to the full, especially when pairing food. In this unique store, cheese is not one-dimensional!” says Mark Schreuders, Sales Director at Arla Netherlands.

This particularly applies to the product range of premium artisanal cheeses – ‘Unika By Castello®’. These were created in collaboration with some of Denmark’s most celebrated chefs and are sold in high-end restaurants.

Dutch TV chef preparing foreign premium cheese

A famous chef got on board for the grand opening of the Castello® store. For two hours, the popular Dutch TV chef, Joop Braakhekke, experimented with a wide range of Castello® cheeses. One of his favourites is the ‘cheese-potato’, a special Dutch potato called ‘bintje’ filled with blue cheese, cream cheese and Castello® Golden – delicious with its thin golden surface due to a special combination of red yeast and white mould. This cheese refined with garlic and a sip of port wine. “Taste should be what determines your choices – every ingredient has its very own character. And it’s important to let your feelings guide you in the kitchen,” explained Joop.

The Hague Pop-up Store Event Calendar:

• 25/10 Grand opening of the Castello® pop-up store
• 8/11 Food artist Katja Gruijters creates with Castello
• 22/11 Food artist Katja Gruijters creates with Castello
• 13/12 Food artist Katja Gruijters creates with Castello