Name

Cheese Plus

Legal name

Cheese Plus®

Website

https://cheeseplus.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Food Retail

NAICS

Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529), Special Food Services (7223), Specialty Food Retailers (4452)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411)

akta.pro primary industry

Cheese Shops & Fromageries (CRAHAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Charcuterie & Cured Meats Specialty Stores (CRAHAGAE), Bread & Pastry Specialty Stores (CRAHAGAC), Member-Owned Food Cooperatives (CRAHALAA)

Keywords

• Artisan cheese retail
• Specialty food store
• Cheese subscription club
• Catering platters service
• Charcuterie and wine shop

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail cheese, charcuterie, wine, beer and specialty food sales: In-store over-the-counter sales of artisan cheese, cured meats, wine, craft beer, and specialty pantry items, cut/sliced to order; one-time transactional purchases by walk-in customers.
2. Café and prepared food sales: Sidewalk Café serving coffee (Equator Coffee), pastries, sandwiches, salads, chili, and breakfast sandwiches; transactional per-order revenue.
3. Catering services: Pre-ordered cheese/charcuterie platters, stuffed triple-crèmes, spreads, and other specialty platters for events; one-time per-order revenue with SF delivery.
4. Cheese of the Month Club: Subscription-based monthly shipments of fine traditional and authentic cheeses, cut from the wheel, hand wrapped to order, and shipped to home or as a gift; recurring revenue.
5. Gift baskets and online shop: E-commerce sales of gift baskets and branded gear via Shopify storefront with nationwide shipping and SF delivery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cheese Plus is a single-location neighborhood specialty cheese shop and Sidewalk Café that hand-selects, ages, and cuts artisan cheese from European and American producers, complemented by charcuterie, a curated wine and craft beer wall, specialty pantry items, and house-made signature spreads. The shop sells these goods through its Polk Street storefront, a made-to-order neighborhood-named sandwich and café program, pre-built and custom catering platters with SF delivery, and a nationwide-shipping Shopify e-commerce shop offering Cheese of the Month Club subscriptions and gift baskets.

Product overview

Cheese Plus operates as a single integrated neighborhood specialty foods retailer rather than a multi-product software platform, with its core retail store at 2001 Polk Street, San Francisco (the "+" in its name) supported by several distinct product and service offerings: the in-store retail assortment of Artisan Cheese, Charcuterie, Wine & Beer, and Specialty Foods; the Sidewalk Café (coffee, pastries, sandwiches); a made-to-order Sandwich Menu of neighborhood-named deli sandwiches; an event-focused Catering Platters service with a Stuffed Triple Crème line and house-made Cheese Plus Signature Spreads; a nationwide shipping Gift Baskets line and Cheese of the Month Club subscription sold via a Shopify-powered online shop; Cheese Plus Gear merchandise; and ancillary in-store services such as Knife Sharpening and Market Fresh Flowers. Together these named offerings form a unified brick-and-mortar and e-commerce experience — anchored by the brick-and-mortar shop and Sidewalk Café, extended online through Shopify for Cheese of the Month Club, Gift Baskets, and Gear, and reached operationally by Mercato for home delivery and ChowNow for sandwich and catering online ordering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Artisan Cheese Hand-selected, cut-to-order artisan cheese sourced from European classics and American producers, including seasonal items and cheese plate assortments curated by expert cheesemongers; sold at the retail storefront for individual consumers.
• Charcuterie Minimally processed, naturally produced smoked and cured meats from noted Italian, Spanish, and US producers, sliced to order; includes pâté, sausages, salami, and sliced meats and supports the deli sandwich program.
• Wine & Beer Eclectic wine wall of traditional old-world and food-friendly family-made wines curated by an in-house Wine Specialist, plus a chilled selection of American and international craft beer with discounts on full and half cases.
• Specialty Foods Culinary accompaniments for cheese and charcuterie including Tuscan extra virgin olive oil, local San Francisco honey, condiments and spices, imported truffles, fruit preserves, and other pantry items.
• Sidewalk Café Daily Sidewalk Café offering Polk Street coffee (Equator Coffee), fresh pastries, sandwiches, and grab-and-go retail coffee with parklet and sidewalk seating at 2001 Polk Street.
• Catering Platters Pre-built and custom catering platters (Cheesemonger's Choice, Charcuterie Ce Soir, European Wonderland, Flamenco Fiesta, Pig and Pickles, Viva Italia!, The Cheese Primer, Mediterranean Meze, Tailgaters Trio, Stuffed Triple Crème) with San Francisco delivery and nationwide shipping options.
• Sandwich Menu Made-to-order deli sandwiches named after San Francisco neighborhoods, grilled on a European panini grill using high-quality meats, cheeses, house-made spreads, and local artisan condiments; includes cold, grilled, and grilled breakfast options and a vegetarian set.
• Cheese of the Month Club Subscription club shipping hand-cut, hand-wrapped-to-order traditional and authentic cheeses directly from the Cheese Plus shop to a subscriber's home or as a gift on a recurring monthly cadence.
• Gift Baskets Curated gift baskets for thank-you gifts, housewarmings, and corporate gifting, available with nationwide shipping and SF delivery through the Cheese Plus Shopify storefront.
• Cheese Plus Signature Spreads House-made cheese spreads including Mykonos Artichoke Feta Spread, Capetown Cheddar Spread (a Peppadew pimiento-style spread), Tip On Inn Cheddar Ale Spread (pub cheese with dark English Ale), and Peppagoats (Peppadew peppers stuffed with Sonoma goat cheese and herbs); available in-store and via catering, priced quote-based ("Please call for pricing").
• Cheese Plus Gear Branded Cheese Plus merchandise sold through the Shopify storefront under the "Gear" collection, complementing the food product lines.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sandwich appreciation loyalty card: free sandwich or salad after 10 visits
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Equator CoffeecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEquator Coffee, a local award-winning independent roaster from Marin County, is the exclusive coffee featured at the Cheese Plus Sidewalk Café. The café serves Equator coffee beverages daily and retails bags of coffee for home brewing, providing a complementary foot-traffic and brand association for both businesses.
• ChownowcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChownow provides the online ordering platform (ordering.chownow.com/order/5322/locations) through which Cheese Plus customers place orders for sandwiches, salads, catering platters, and other menu items. The Chownow ordering link is prominently featured on the homepage and Sandwiches page.
• MercatocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMercato is an online specialty grocery marketplace where Cheese Plus maintains a storefront (mercato.com/shop/cheese-plus-2) offering home delivery and curbside pickup of the shop's products, extending reach beyond walk-in customers.
• Perfect Edge SharpeningminorOthersPerfect Edge Sharpening comes on-site at Cheese Plus (e.g., the Monday before Thanksgiving) to sharpen customers' kitchen knives, a unique in-store service promoted on the company's Instagram feed.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Murray's Cheese: Iconic New York specialty cheese shop with a hand-cut cheese counter, attached café, cheese subscription/club, and nationwide mail-order business. Closest direct peer to Cheese Plus in format and product mix.
• Cowgirl Creamery: Bay Area artisan cheese producer with its own retail shops and cheese-centric catering/cheese boards. Comparable mix of retail, café, and event-driven cheese offerings.
• Cheese Board Collective: Berkeley cheese shop and pizzeria cooperative combining a hand-cut cheese counter with made-to-order food service. Directly comparable specialty cheese retail + café hybrid.
• Formaggio Kitchen: Cambridge specialty cheese shop with a curated charcuterie, wine, and pantry assortment and on-site café. Closely mirrors Cheese Plus's hand-cut cheese, cured meats, and wine program.
• Zingerman's: Ann Arbor-based specialty food business with a flagship deli, mail-order, and cheese/charcuterie/wine/pantry assortment. Highly comparable artisan specialty food retail and nationwide shipping model.

Regional players

• Mission Cheese: San Francisco neighborhood cheese shop with a small wine and charcuterie program. Operates in the same SF consumer base as Cheese Plus but with a more limited café/catering extension.
• Say Cheese: San Francisco cheese-focused shop and sandwich counter. Comparable product mix (cheese, sandwiches, charcuterie) within the same local market.

Emerging players

• Goldbelly: Online marketplace that aggregates and ships specialty/artisan foods (including cheese and charcuterie) nationwide. Competes with Cheese Plus's gift basket and Cheese of the Month Club nationwide shipping lines.

Broad incumbents

• Whole Foods Market: National premium grocery retailer with a substantial specialty cheese, charcuterie, wine, and prepared-food program. Competes for the same premium food customer across both retail and catering use cases.
• Trader Joe's: National specialty grocer with a curated cheese wall, charcuterie, and wine selection at value price points. Sets the floor on convenience and price competition for Cheese Plus's specialty assortment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cheese_plus
• Facebookfacebook.com/cheeseplus
• Instagraminstagram.com/cheeseplus
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cheese-plus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cheese Plus