Paul Clarke

International Cheese and Dairy Awards – Europe

Paul has spent his career working for food manufacturers and has a strong commercial background spending close to 30 years working within his beloved cheese and dairy industry. Having a classic trained FMCG background, he started his sales career in 1987 with Allied Lyons, selling brands such as Tetley Tea, and recalls his very early exposure selling to major multiple food retailers, in those early days some of which were still store level direct selling calls. 

In his early 20’s Paul gained his first international business exposure, then went on to work in the poultry industry supplying a £50m portfolio of chicken into a major UK retailer, then in his mid-late 20’s moved into the cheese and dairy industry and found his home there, and today is truly proud to consider himself to be a dairyman through and through. 

Paul has worked for four different £bn turnover dairy organisations, being British, Irish, Swiss and French, and considers himself fortunate to have worked with some great people along the way. Coupled with his brand and retailer own label experience, Paul has developed an extremely broad business understanding, and has also worked for family dairy businesses as well as farmers’ cooperatives, all of which has stood him in great stead. Although supplying major multiple retail has accounted for the majority of Paul’s career, he has personally also supplied cheese into every channel across the UK.

Having judged at many different cheese award events around the world, as well as grading cheese at dozens of producers’ premises across Europe, Paul remembers with great fondness attending the International Cheese & Dairy Awards in the early 1990’s. This was always the event which Paul held dear to his heart, and recalls, “for those of us who can remember the event then held at the Nantwich show ground, it was the highlight of the dairy calendar, as we navigated the streams running through the cheese tent, jumping across wooden planks trying to avoid the mud, but it was still magic to attend”. Paul states, given the ICDA’s rich legacy dating back to 1897 (the oldest and largest cheese and dairy event in the world), getting involved with the ICDA was a way of giving something back to an industry that had given so much to him, as Paul wants to help to ensure this important event in the dairy calendar continues to flourish for future generations to come. Paul also sits on the organising committee for the ICDA coordinating European entries.

Paul is passionate about international trade and very much enjoys the idiosyncrasies of conversing with different world and European nationalities and cultures. Understanding the pitfalls of international trade, gaining pre and post Brexit customs related qualifications, Paul established a European consolidation hub to handle all European entries in 2021, to make it as easy as possible for European cheese producers to enter, ensuring that every help is given to them, any hassle eliminated, thus enabling an unhampered flow of their cheese into the UK and onwards to the ICDA event.

Having also spent some enjoyable and fulfilling periods consulting to an array of businesses, largely dairy, during the middle of his career, this has eventually led Paul to focusing ever more time on his own importing business which he runs today. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day for Paul who is determined and, whilst feeling a sense of responsibility given his exceptional and unique combination and breadth of industry and international knowledge, in this post Brexit world, he is drawn to wantings to help UK dairy businesses export and trade on the greater world stage.

Please find Paul’s company website below: 

www.clarkegemini.com