Crossword Genius

Someone important in the dairy? (3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

big cheese

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'the dairy?' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'someone important' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'important' could be 'big' (synonyms) and 'big' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'cheese' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for big cheese that I've seen before include "Important chap" , "Notable" , "boss" , "VIP" , "Important person (slang)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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