Milk Producer - May 2009 - (Page 50)

THEBACKFORTY By Sharon Laidlaw Pass the cheese, please Despite tough economy, Americans and Canadians aren’t willing to part with their cheese ptimism is hard to come by if you’re a dairy farmer in the U.S. Milk prices have plunged to half of what they were a year ago. But there is good news on the horizon for our neighbours to the south. According to the NDP Group, a market research firm in Port Washington, N.Y., cheese is quickly becoming the snack of choice for many Americans. A $90 billion industry, cheese is increasingly grabbing a larger share of the snacking market. Ten years ago, roughly 2.5 per cent of the American population ate cheese in the evening as a snack, compared to 4.5 per cent now. Overall, Americans consumed 1.1 billion cheese snacks in 2008. Children under six were the largest snack consumers, followed by those in the six to 12 range and then the 18 to 34 group. Chicago-based Mintel, a global consumer, product and market research firm, found 61 per cent of Americans consider cheese a healthy snack. Wisconsin-based cheesemaker Sargento last winter repackaged some of its cheese products as a holiday snack. It introduced holiday-shaped cheese cubes for the first time. The snowflake and Christmas tree snacks sold for $3.19. “Once cheese is in the household, it’s an all-family snack. 50 | May 2009 | MilkPRODUCER O That’s the appeal of cheese. It’s a snack everyone likes,” said Erin Price, Sargento’s senior marketing manager. NDP Group vice-president Harry Balzer said while cheese is not yet a major snack item “it clearly has the trend in its favour.” While I could not find comparable Canadian cheese snacking trends, cheese consumption has been steadily increasing in Canada the last few years. According to Statistics Canada, in 2007 Canadians ate 10.1 kilograms of cheese per person. This set a new record in the country’s cheese con- Children under 12 are the largest cheese snack consumers. sumption trends. Although there is less fat intake from the milk they drink, Canadians are eating more fat from cheese and cream products. According to the Canadian Dairy Information Centre, Canada produces more than 450 different cheeses. It reported cheddar accounted for the biggest slice of Canadian cheese production across the country in 2007, followed by mozzarella, cream cheese and cottage cheese. OMAFRA’s cheesemaking business information centre states that in 2008 Canada produced 396,363 tonnes of cheese, which includes cheddar, variety and cottage cheese. Specialty cheese production trends in Canada remain positive. Between 2000 and 2008, national production rose 10.4 per cent to 222,035 tonnes. During that period, Ontario production rose 9.7 per cent to 63,065 tonnes. Also, Ontario produced 28.4 per cent of Canada’s specialty cheese in 2008, while Quebec accounted for the lion’s share— 61.5 per cent. Overall, 119,389 tonnes of cheddar, variety and cottage cheese were produced in Ontario in 2008. If Canadians follow the U.S. trend, they’ll be consuming more of all that cheese as healthy snacks. With files from www.brandweek.com http://www.brandweek.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milk Producer - May 2009

Milk Producer - May 2009
Contents
Editor's Notes
DFO Chair's Message
Dairy Update
DFC Promotion
Farm Finance
Environmental Issues
Canadian Cow Scooped Up By Processors
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Markets
New 'N' Noted
Back Forty

Milk Producer - May 2009