Among all the growing interest in unique cheese flavors and with buzzwords like grass-fed and high-protein being tossed around, one theme remains constant: natural still wins. Consumers want to know where their cheese is coming from, their interest in the local farmstead story remains hot, and they still want clean labels.
In the 52 weeks ended Aug. 11, 2013 the natural cheese category showed dollar sales up 2.4% to $11.7 billion and units rising 2.8%, according to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), Chicago. Compared to last year, about 52% of respondents from Dairy Foods2013 Ingredients Study expect their spending on natural/organic ingredients to increase.