Cream cheese gets goaty in Germany
Cream cheese spreads are increasing sales year on year in Germany with around 112,000 tonnes going over the counter in the 12 months ending November 2011 – a rise of 6%. Major players in this field start with Kraft and its dominating Philadelphia and include Buko (Arla), Bresso (Edelweiss) and of course President (Lactalis) and Bongrain’s Géramont line. But there’s something new shooting over the cream cheese horizon in Germany: products from goat milk. While it’s still very much a niche market (3-4% of cream cheese sales in 2011) goat milk cream cheeses have notched up a 16% rise in turnover and tonnage sold (up 600 tonnes to around 3,900 tonnes on the year). As with other cream cheeses private label products represent about 50% of goat milk cream cheese sales on a tonnage basis (rather less in turnover terms). But market leader with 33% share in Germany is still a brand: Edelweiss’ Chavroux. Edelweiss, a Bavarian-based German daughter of Bongrain, produces in total some 37,000 tonnes cheese yearly.
