With an influx of innovative snacking options, convenient packaging, specialty cheeses and unique flavors, the cheese category claims the MOST CREATIVE title this year.
As consumers continue to seek out food with clean ingredients, protein on the go, freshness and convenience, cheese is the answer to many of those needs. Over the last year, cheese processors have doubled down on portable snack offerings, from cheese bites to snack packs. Hybrid options (think cheese paired with lunch meats, nuts, fruit and pretzels) are popping up everywhere. Portion control and portability are the keys.
Alive and ever-changing, microbes are responsible for everything from the safety of cheese to its flavor development during ripening. In fact, microbes in the form of starter culture, or adjunct bacteria/fungi, are ultimately responsible for turning milk into an almost endless array of cheese varieties.
Dairy Foods spoke with two artisan cheese companies from opposite sides of the country about what’s trending in their category, what their most popular cheese flavors are and more.
Rogue Creamery is an organic artisan cheesemaker from Central Point, Ore., that specializes in producing blue cheese, cheddars and more. Websterville, Vt.-based Vermont Creamery is an artisan cheese company that specializes in fresh and aged goat cheeses, and fresh cow cheeses.
Horizon Organic, a brand of DanoneWave, Broomfield, Colo., launched of a new line of snacking products. Good & Go snack packs feature cheese paired with nuts, dried fruit or pretzels and are packaged in convenient 1.26-ounce packages.
Rojo’s, Buena Park, Calif., expanded its portfolio with a new line of Queso dips. The dips come in two varieties: Salsa Con Queso — sour cream, creamy cotija and cream cheese, mixed with fresh tomatoes, onions and jalapeno peppers; and Queso Blanco — Monterey Jack and cotija cheeses combined with green chiles and jalapenos.