Cheese Benefits from Ongoing Food Currents- Bold, Bucolic and Better

(Madison, Wis., December 2006)-The American food consumer stayed the
course in 2006, bolstering current trends and securing their influence.  This is
good news for cheese, says the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), a
dairy farmer-funded organization that closely follows and analyzes culinary
data and information.
 
In short, what Americans want is fresh, healthy, safe and very flavorful, the
food attributes that define "quality."  American chefs continue to be prime
influencers, extending their impact through cookbooks, television shows and
their own food product lines.  Supermarkets are responding with boutique
concepts for organics, specialty and regional products.
 
"Cheese, one of the world's oldest and most versatile foods, meets all the
contemporary criteria for a highly desired food," said Marilyn Wilkinson, a
director of National Product Communications for WMMB.  "Not that there
haven't been changes in this perennial favorite.  In many ways, we've gone
back to the future, revering traditional ways of making and aging a growing
number of American originals."  
      
In Wisconsin, the nation's leading cheesemaking state, specialty cheese is a
robustly growing segmentincreasing at least 7 percent per year since 2002
with expectations for this trend to expand.

Trend-by-Trend
When it comes to fresh, natural cheeses meet consumer desires for minimally
processed foods.  With a sparse ingredient list and no additives, natural
cheeses continue their popularity.  In fact, natural, exact weight cheese
sales in traditional grocery stores enjoyed a 13 percent increase over the last
5 years while processed varieties declined by 11 percent.
 
The healthy concept is more complicated with "fresh" being just one
component. Consumer perceptions include both the nutrition and production
aspects when it comes to defining this term.  Some current research
indicates Americans are finally changing their diets (as opposed to talking
about doing so) to include healthier choices.  Food producers and
manufactures are heeding the trend by adding vitamins and minerals. But
cheese doesn't have to go this supplemental routeit is a wholesome food,
offering both calcium and protein in its natural form. And, amid the most
current concerns about fat, cheese contains essentially no transfats.
 
But today's concerned American, according to research, also takes
agriculture-the way food is grown or nurtured-into the "healthy"
consideration.  Organic and sustainable agriculture are important perceived
contributors to the trend.  Wisconsin boasts more organic dairy farms than
any state, and the pasture-grazing of dairy cows is on the increase.   The
desire for safe foods is also tied to agriculture practices as well as to
processing procedures.  The contemporary trendy American values small
production and "locally" grown products, a preference that is driving the
artisan cheese movement in Wisconsinwhere the average dairy farm houses
just 86 cowsand throughout the country.
 
Flavor is always a driving force in food trends.  The latest flavor driver is
toward big and bold.  When it comes to cheese, that can mean varieties,
such as Blue or Asiago. Or it can mean adding flavors, such as herbs or
smoke, or employing techniques, such as washing the rinds of cheese during
aging with a brine or liquor, or by aging the cheeses in caveseither natural
or simulated.  These aged cheesessuch as Wisconsin Gruyère, Aged
Cheddar or Goudahave complex and distinctive flavors and star on chef
cheese courses, a trend that continues in white table cloth restaurants.

Trend Offshoots
Among these mega trends, a number of "trendlets" affecting cheese have
emerged in 2006, and they include:
* More one-of-a-kind, small production American original cheeses. 
Wisconsin's specialty and artisan cheesemakers are crafting products with
unique qualities, styles and names, such as Carr Valley Gran Canaria, Crave
Brothers Farmstead Les Frères, Cedar Grove Faarko and Uplands Cheese
Pleasant Ridge Reserve.
* Intensification of interest in Latin-inspired cheesesfrom Hispanic to
Spanish. The fastest growing U.S. population segmentHispanicsimpacts
this growth, and these styles are going mainstream.  The market thrust to
promote the foods of Spain is leading Wisconsin cheesemakers to make
Spanish styles, among them Roth Kase USA with its GranQueso (Manchego
style) and Vintage Van Gogh (Mahón style).
* Increased snacking. Along with the trend toward healthy eating, savory as
well as sweet snacks are being consumed. 
* Restaurants' experimentation with flexible day parts, such as late lunches,
late suppers and breakfast items round the clock, creating opportunities for
cheese.
* Sandwiches, always in vogue, eaten increasingly as a home dinner entrée
and made in more imaginative executions in restaurants, from casual to chic.
* Supermarkets' pursuit of more interactive marketing techniques and more
educational classes and demonstrations, including cheese pairings and ethnic
cheese uses.
* New heights in cheese convenience with shredded blends diversifying to
include not only ethnic-driven blends, but very specific combinations such
as "taco" or "bistro" blends. 
* The embracing of stylish "healthy" salads by fast food chains. Cheese is
adding to their appeal.
* "Hot" cheese-friendly cuisines:  lounge food and casual chic.

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board is a nonprofit organization of Wisconsin dairy
producers that promotes the consumption of milk, cheese and other dairy
products made in America's Dairyland.

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