Hello, can anyone advise me please. I am coming over to my holiday home in September and good friends who are not vegan, have asked me if i would be able to bring some large pieces of strong English cheddar over with me. Are there any type of searches at Caen ferry port?
Small very expensive pieces of not so nice cheddar is in a few shops but difficult to find.
Mike
I’m surprised it’s difficult to find. I’m pretty certain our local Leclerc sells strong English cheddar. I don’t buy it so can’t vouch for its quality, but certainly it is around.
My understanding is that it will be confiscated if found - probably depends whether you are prepared to risk it or not @michael_linsell and how guilty a face you have 
However, I haven’t heard of any searches at Caen so far…
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Grand Frais sells Cheddar and Stilton.
There is only a small chance that you will be stopped, and you either might be asked point blank if you have prohibited products or be searched. If found/declared if you are it will be confiscated as it is strictly forbidden to bring in dairy products from the UK, and you can be fined if the customs officer is having a really bad day.
“Les produits d’origine animale (viande, produit à base de viande et produit laitier) en provenance de pays qui ne sont pas de l’Union européenne sont strictement interdits.”
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Reminds me of all those TV programmes about customs and border controls in Canada and Australia that are rife on some UK channels 
We find Wykes mature, extra mature and Cathedral City mature in our local Carrefour supermarket. In comparison to French cheeses, it isn’t that expensive either.
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All our local Intermarché stores stock Mclelland Seriously Strong Cheddar and some of the Leclerc stores sell both SCC and thier own brand which is identical but cheaper.
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Carrefour Market in Cluny sell Wyke Farm as well.
Thank you all for your comments, duly noted.
Mike.
Super U sell an excellent super mature cheddar that is one of the best I have tasted.
I remember flying back into Sydney after a year in Denmark. I had a very large danish sausage in my bag, wrapped in many, many layers of plastic! I as horrified when I saw sniffer dogs arriving. I got away with it but my heart was poundingI I’m guessing that they were actually trained for drugs not Danish salami 
I think that the OP wants to bring something special from the UK rather than just buy something that his friends can already get here…
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A cautionary tale … but not cheese-related !
A friend was flying to see his uncle living in Spain. When in the UK, his uncle had always had Shredded Wheat for breakfast, but he couldn’t get it where he lived. So my friend had very thoughtfully packed a large suitcase full of the stuff. All went well, until he was very nearly arrested at the airport - I guess the x-ray showed something quite bizarre, and they thought he was a drug smuggler. He had a bit of explaining to do, but he managed to convince and eventually made it to Spain, and with the goods intact…
Like Sue I was just surprised they cannot find any across here, Super U had the usual Cathedral, Wykes etc plus their own type
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Ah yes but probably not the beautiful hand-crafted versions that the OP probably has in mind 
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Which reminds me…I noticed to my surprise that local fromagerie had some authentic looking cheddar a couple of weeks back! Tourist season I guess, the same way our market stall has proper Gouda in July and August.
Personally I would take your friends a lovely bottle of english sparkling wine!
Did it contain a picture of the fallen Madonna with the big boobies by Van Clomp in it
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You’re a brave man John
Back in 2018 we were flying to UK… at the French airport, the hand luggage was being checked. Turned out that one chap ahead of us had loads of cheeses in his holdall… he presumably had friends in UK who wanted some French delicacies…
It was all confiscated… (although I didn’t know of any rules at that time…) but obviously there was something in place.
Ahh yes, soft cheese was confiscated because it could be semtex. Soft cheese smells of cheese, semtex smells of marzipan. For a country that prides itself on food and wine it was amazing they couldn’t tell the difference.