Cheese in Eastern Europe

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

Sales continue to grow during the pandemic

Having seen a growth spike during 2020 as consumers spent more time at home and ate more meals and snacks there due to the pandemic, the rate of growth in cheese slowed in 2021, as COVID-19 restrictions were being eased and consumers were spending less time at home.

Czechs keen on barbecue cheeses

Czechs love to barbecue and this has driven a growing trend for grilling camembert cheese, with this trend expected to extend to other types of cheese, including hard cheese, over the forecast period. Recent launches include Liptov Polostiepok na gril hard cheese from Savencia, Président Cheese Steak soft cheese by Lactalis and Milko Smoked Cheese Stick from Polabske Mlekarny.

Convenient products growing in popularity

Value-added products like grated cheese for pizza or sliced cheeses for sandwiches are growing in popularity in Russia, due to the convenience they offer. Curd (cream) cheese is also growing in popularity in Russia, as it is regarded as both healthy and natural. This is encouraging new product development, with Valio launching salmon and prawn flavours under its Viola brand and Karat introducing curd cheeses specifically for cooking, eg cheese “with onions”, “with mushrooms“, “with salmon“ etc.

Lactose-free cheese a potential growth area

With rising cases of lactose intolerance among Polish consumers, and lactose-free products selling four times as quickly as dairy products in the country, most leading players now offer lactose-free cheese in their portfolios, with Mlekovita offering popular cheese types Sokol, Gouda and Lavalti in packaged slices in lactose-free options, while Hochland offers all of its packaged hard cheese without lactose, including Gouda, Edam and Maasdam. The player also offers a lactose-free variant of its spreadable processed cheese brand Almette.