News

Specialty cheese makers looking to improve market share

 

Specialty cheese makers are learning how they can get more of their products into the mouths of consumers.

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin CEO Chad Vincent tells Brownfield cheese makers are offering more specialty varieties, but some are struggling to increase their market share.

He met with almost 40 specialty cheese manufacturers recently and tells Brownfield they shared some common problems.  “One of the critical components that they had, especially in the small and mid-sized companies is how do I get my product at retail?  How do I get my product into distribution so that these wonderful stores on the west coast, how do I get my product sold there?”

Daniel Hammer of Kroger’s and Murray’s Cheese says they carefully hire and train people to help with cheese tastings and product demonstrations.  “It’s all about the foodyness, it’s all about how much do you really support and how much do you enjoy cheese as a category as a consumer, and that’s really what’s one of the first qualifiers for somebody that wants to join the team.”

Panel discussion moderator Michael Eardley told the producers cheese is usually sold, not bought, as consumers often learn about the cheese right before purchasing.

 Vincent says Wisconsin makes more than 40 percent of the specialty cheeses on the U.S. market, and that 90% of the state’s milk goes into cheese with 90% of that cheese being sold outside of Wisconsin.

The discussion took place at the International Cheese Tech Expo in Milwaukee Thursday.