Business owner hits back at criticism over her £5,500 cheese board

Now, we all love a good cheese board.

Complete with figs, olives, deli meats, fancy bread and just about every artisan slice of fromage your heart could desire - it's clear that a good graze-worthy charcuterie board is a universally-loved thing.

However, it seems some people have very firm ideas about what one of them should cost with one business owner being forced to hit back against criticism over her cheese grazing table which totalled to a hefty £5,500.

TikTok/@sophisticatedspreads

Emmy, the founder behind Sophisticated Spreads which offers a whole range of services including catered events, DIY classes, and to go boxes, has clapped back at internet trolls slamming her for the price of the grazing table.

The woman, who is sometimes referred to as the 'cheese boss', took to TikTok to share with her 312.1k followers a little more about the behind the scenes of her business and exactly what goes into putting together each luxury spread.

After being accused of making a '1000 percent profit margin' Emmy responded: "So you think you’re funny? For all of you Smart Alecs in the comment section, I’m going to break down the profit margin on a grazing table like this, which is $7,000 (£5,500)."

She continued: "Let’s keep in mind that the profit margin in the food industry is not great guys, this is why restaurants and companies go under. It’s about 20-30 percent."

TikTok/@sophisticatedspreads

The business owner then ran through the cost of every single item included on the grazing table:

• $550 (£440) in artisan cheeses
• $150 (£120) in charcuterie meat
• $150 (£120) for a 20ft hand-woven garland by a local florist
• $75 (£60) fresh flowers and edible flowers
• $100 (£80) decor items, including pomegranates, artichokes, tomatoes
• $300 (£240) fresh fruit (including grapes, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries)
• $75 (£60) veggie crudities
• $50 (£40) hummus, honey, pepper jams, chutney, honeycomb
• $300 (£240) dried goods, including crackers, baguettes, dried fruit, nuts
• $200 (£160) special dessert items
• $50 (£40) single-use utensils
• $300 (£240) petrol for a six-hour drive to the venue

TikTok/@sophisticatedspreads

While that already comes up to a pretty steep number, it's clearly not the only overhead costs as Emmy also explained she had to factor in the price for two people for a two-night hotel stay and travel fees during the event which was $600 (around £480).

She told viewers: "The total cost is $2,900 (£2,300), which is 40 percent of the price.

"This doesn’t factor in the overheads such as the cost of wooden trays, kitchen licensing, etc, or our time and labour for two employees for preparing, driving six hours, etc, plus the fact we wouldn’t be able to do any other events where we’re based for that weekend which could have been valued at $5,000 (£4,000)."

Emmy finished up the video telling any critics: "Before you comment on how you could do this for less: do your research, try to run a business and try to do it successfully for three years and actually make money, and then let’s talk."

Topics: Money, Food and Drink, TikTok

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.