In our November 2020 State of the Industry report, we shared the incredible growth story of cheese at retail. Natural cheese saw a 15.8% jump in dollar sales (to $15,291.0 million) and a 9.0% increase in unit sales (to 4,356.4 million) during the 52 weeks ending Sept. 6, 2020, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI. Processed cheese realized a 13.5% gain in retail dollar sales (to $3,175.1 million) and a 6.8% increase in unit sales (to 776.4 million).
That upswing in sales, tied directly to the COVID-19 pandemic, is a thing of the past. In fact, IRI data show that dollar sales for natural cheese at retail declined 2.7% (to $15,960.8 million) during the 52 weeks ending Jan. 23, 2022, while unit sales fell 4.0% (to 4,398.2 million). Processed cheese realized 4.5% and 6.4% dollar and unit sales declines, respectively (to $3,184.4 million and 748.2 million). The final totals, however, are still higher than those recorded for our November 2020 State of the Industry report, reflecting gains in between the two reporting periods.