About Juliet Harbutt & Hunter Gatherer Tours of Hawke’s Bay

My Story

After a rocky start to my academic career as a geologist, IT nerd and eventually owner of a small deli-cafe in Wellington THE PARSONS NOSE, I discovered CHEESE on a trip to Paris. Totally smitten in 1985 I moved to London and set up JEROBOAMS The Wine and Cheese Shop. Reputably London’s finest with over 150 raw milk cheeses we supplied the likes of the Ritz and Claridges, The Roux Brothers, Marco Pierre White, Mark Hix and Leiths. And it's still going.

My curiosity took me to markets, mountain tops, caves and cheesemakers around the world and my experience was recognised by the French who made me a member of the Guild des Fromagers, Confrerie de Saint-Uguzon and a Confrerie des Chevaliers du Taste-Fromage de France.  Sort of like a Master of Cheese without exams!

In 1991 I sold Jeroboams to write, train and help others set up Farm shops and delis in Europe and USA. My latest book WORLD CHEESE BOOK , published in 9 languages, won Best Food Book 2010 at the Guild of Food Writers awards and has sold over 90,000 copies.  To spread the “gospel of Cheeses” I write for various magazines including NZ House & Garden for 10 years, currently my own column in BUSINESS DESK and SPECIALITY FOOD MAGAZINE , and, despite moving to NZ, the BBC still contact me occasionally to talk or consult about cheese. 

Guest Speaker, Judge & Educator

I have spoken at or hosted numerous events, judged at competitions including UK, USA, Switzerland and France; designed and run training programs  around the world covering CHEESE, charcuterie, the Deli counter, merchandising, NPD [new product development] and how to START A DELI FROM SCRATCH.  This can be done one-on-one in person or with ZOOM or SKYPE as I did for the Artisan Cheese Room in Manly Australia!  

My clients range from small delis and cheese shops, to the supermarket giants TESCO, MORRISONS and M&S and independent food stores like Harrods, Fortnum & Masons and FARRO FRESH [N Z). 

My Mission

To raise the profile of artisan cheese to do this I created and subsequently sold New Zealand Cheese Awards, British Cheese Awards, Great British Cheese Festival and CHEESES ON THE GREEN. I helped set up the Specialist Cheesemakers Association [UK],  work closely with Slow Food since 1998 and lecture at the UNIVERSITY OF GASTRONOMIC SCIENCE in Pollenzo, Italy. 

The Media & Me

I love radio rather than TV but have appeared on Saturday Kitchen, Ready Steady Cook, and The Hairy Bikers and was a winner on the TV series Come Dine with Me but the greatest honour was to have BBC 4 FOOD PROGRAMME do a programme on me, A LIFE THROUGH FOOD hosted by the legendary, funny charming Sheila Dillon.  The link to listen is here.

Having Fun with Cheese

I have helped design or develop numerous cheeses for cheesemakers and celebrities from the Prince of Wales to Alex James of Blur fame.

My Juliet Harbutt – Simply the Best Range has featured in Central Market Texas, Sobeys in Ontario, Canada and GLOBUS in Switzerland and I am hoping to do a range in New Zealand. For 5 years, as part of the Discover the Origin campaign I was paid to eat Parma ham and Parmesan along with Port, Burgundy and Portuguese wines.  One of the best jobs ever!

My latest projects includes working with some of the wonderful cheesemakers, wineries and micro brewers in Hawke’s Bay including Crossroads, Pask Wines and BLACK BARN VINEYARD where I live amongst the vines.