A Dunmow man has given dogs across the country another reason for chasing the postman every morning by setting up the world’s first ever grilled cheese subscription service.

Motivated by the success of the snack delivery service Graze, the Cheese Postie is the brainchild of Danny Jennings, 56, and business partner Dave Rotheroe, 26.

The constituent parts of a toasted cheese sandwich arrive in a shallow cardboard box, which is designed to fit neatly through a standard letterbox, and costs £3.99 a week. Inside are slices of artisan bread, cheese and a condiment to compliment the gourmet snack, along with a bag in which to heat it up.

After raising almost £4,000 on Kickstarter, Dave and Danny are aiming to have the service up and running by late August/early September.

Dave has also financed another business – a hot sauce mail order service called Lick My Dip – on the crowdfunding website and met Danny when he backed his idea.

Danny has been involved in logistics for about 30 years and has run his own pick-and-post business in Dunmow for 15 years, which combined with Dave’s background in IT and interest in food was the perfect mix for the new company.

Lick My Dip contains hot sauces and chilli products from small independent British suppliers for a monthly subscription of £12.49 (with free delivery in the UK) and has already attracted customers in Japan, Mexico, California and Israel.

They have just employed a web developer for the Cheese Postie to perfect the website ready before the business goes live in a few weeks.

“The response has been fantastic,” said Dave. “Demand from the US has been huge and we have customers ready and waiting. We’ve also had interest from investors, so all the signs are good.”

Danny has just returned from Italy where he did a course in pizza making and is setting up a mobile wood-fired pizza business in a specially converted classic Citroen H van.

The Fire Truck will travel the local area selling pizzas at small festivals, pubs and other events. Danny also plans to set up a street food market in Chelmsford, similar to those in London and Cambridge.