50 Varieties, Half of Them Nowhere Else in Edinburgh: The Big Cheese Opens on Broughton Street in August

An Edinburgh couple are opening an independent cheese shop on Broughton Street on 1 August. The Big Cheese will launch with 50 varieties from Scotland, the UK, and continental Europe, with around half reportedly unavailable anywhere else in the city. It's the kind of genuinely local, genuinely specialist retail that Broughton Street does well.

The Big Cheese will open its doors on Broughton Street on 1 August, adding another independent to one of Edinburgh's more characterful shopping streets. The founders, an Edinburgh couple, have assembled an opening range of 50 cheeses spanning Scottish producers, UK artisans, and continental European makers. According to the shop, roughly half of those varieties are not currently on sale anywhere else in the city.

That exclusivity claim matters. Specialist food retail in Edinburgh is competitive, and differentiation is everything. Broughton Street already hosts a cluster of independents that draw foot traffic precisely because they stock things the supermarkets don't. A cheese shop with genuine provenance and sourcing reach has a natural home here.

Scotland has a serious artisan food and drink story to tell. According to Scotland Food and Drink, the sector contributes over £15 billion to the Scottish economy annually, with specialty and artisan producers growing faster than the broader food market. Independent retailers who champion that produce, particularly at street level in high-footfall urban areas, are part of what keeps that ecosystem alive and visible to everyday consumers.

Broughton Street itself has seen a steady return of independent retail confidence in recent years. According to the Edinburgh City Council's town centre health checks, streets with a strong independent mix tend to maintain footfall better than those dominated by chain retail, particularly as consumers increasingly seek experience and provenance over convenience. A specialty cheese shop is precisely the kind of destination retail that turns a street into a reason to visit.

If you're in the neighbourhood from 1 August onwards, it's worth a look. And if you're a Scottish cheesemaker who isn't yet stocked anywhere in Edinburgh, here is a new door that's just about to open.

What this means for you: If you run a food, hospitality, or retail business in Edinburgh, the opening of a specialist independent is a networking opportunity as much as anything else. Introduce yourself, explore whether your product could sit alongside theirs, or simply note how they're building a differentiated offer from day one. Sourcing exclusives and building provenance into your range is a lesson that applies well beyond cheese.