Dramatic cuts in export subsidies have forced Den-mark’s MD Foods to begin producing cheese in the USA for the first time.
Following an initial trial period, full scale production of creamy Havarti has begun under a licence agreement with Wisconsin-based White Clover Dairy. A range of five Havarti varieties, sold under the brand name Dofino, will attempt to capitalise on the existing and growing popularity of MD’s products in the States. The move will also sidestep the difficulties caused by significant reductions in EU export subsidies for Danish Havarti.
The locally produced Havarti is being marketed as a cheese for everyday consumption, competing with other American-made cheeses such as Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Emmental. In this way, it should not succeed at the expense of the higher priced imported variety, which is typically bought by Americans for special occasions. This currently accounts for one third of MD’s exports to the US.
Americans buy 5,000 tonnes of Havarti each year, but MD’s US director, Jens Bang Pedersen, expects his com-pany’s local product to help increase the size of the market to 7,000 tonnes per annum.