Say premium cheese

One of the top trends predicted for the next year by Julian Melletin of New Nutrition Business is that more people will say yes to cheese in many formats, particularly as snacking becomes more of a common event. Cheese is remarkably portable and lends itself to snacking, either it be little bags of cheese bites such as Dairy Crest’s Chedds brand, or string cheese, or cheese in combination with nuts and dried fruit, such as Sargento’s Balanced Breaks brand. It is the latter type that is moving cheese out from its usual area of children’s snacks into the wider adult market, and expect to see more combination, single-serve cheese and other product snacks on-shelf soon.

Cheese can also offer protein, which continues to be another trend, Mellentin says. This is especially in Asia and the Middle East, where the concept is not widespread as it is in the US and Europe. Cheese offers the opportunity for premium, niche brands, which is another way to ensure good growth, he notes. Niche brands often see good growth while commodity brands stagnate, he observes.

Another not so welcome trend is the impact of non-dairy products, such as almond or soy drinks, on the dairy market. Mellentin gives us the unwelcome news that 12 per cent of the US liquid milk market now belongs to almond and coconut milks. It depends on how a company wants to go – Danone has invested heavily in non-dairy dairy, for example. It is now one of the worlds’ top-10 dairy companies and also the world’s biggest player in the non-dairy milks market. Then there is thinking around the issue. One participant at the World Dairy Summit recently suggested that dairy start adding flavours such as coconut and almond to milk products, in order to offer consumers what they want, trend-wise. It is a good idea.