Vegetarian food, the trend towards fast cuisine, convenience and the love for red-white-red goods ensure good business for local cheese makers. They fuel the purchasing mood of consumers with new products. There are more than 400 different types to choose from – and the trend continues to rise.
The Austrians are fans of Emmentaler, Gervais & Co. “Despite significant price increases, cheese is still one of the most popular staple foods,” reports Claudia Wabra (“The Cheese Makers”). Consumption per capita is currently about 23 kilograms per year and continuously increasing. In the past 25 years the increase was 64 percent. In international comparison, the French are the leader with 28 kilograms.
“A whole piece of cheese is being purchased less and less often, but sales of slices and grated varieties are increasing,” explains AMA marketing boss Christina Mutenthaler-Sipek. The favorite variety is Gouda, but mozzarella is also increasingly appearing on plates. We are spoiled for choice as there are over 400 different varieties produced in this country. In the West, hard cheese dominates, in the East, cream cheese and soft varieties dominate.
The local cheese dairies fuel the purchasing mood with new offers. “Of course we also notice that it is currently more challenging to bring high-quality products to the market. Yet we are satisfied with the current market development,” says Gerrit Woerle of the company of the same name, which is dependent on hay milk and has expanded a new natural cheese factory in 2022 to set the course for the future.
“We were able to reduce our sales prices in 2023. “Cheese prices are currently having a dampening effect on inflation again, i.e. they are significantly below the general inflation rate,” analyzes Berglandmilch director Georg Lehner (Schärdinger, Stainzer and Tirolmilch, etc.). The industry is benefiting from the trend towards vegetarian food. In its own company, the market leader supports the trend towards convenience and quick cooking. B. with products such as fried and pan cheese, sliced and grated variants.
Nöm-Cottagecheese recently ranked highly among retail chains and sales developed accordingly. But the category is generally growing slightly, says Nöm board member Alfred Berger, who points to the factors that strongly determine prices and remain very high, such as energy, packaging, factory costs, taxes and wages (up 9.4 percent since November 1 ). , 2023).
The coming weeks are certainly positive for the sector. “Cheese also benefits from increasing purchases before Christmas,” says Florian Schwap, manager of SalzburgMilch.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
