FDBusiness.com

Emmentaler AOP and Le Gruyère AOP are the most popular Swiss cheeses both in Switzerland and abroad. This also holds true for the cave-aged cheese specialities from Kaltbach. However, launched just four years ago, KALTBACH Creamy & Tasty is catching up to the two frontrunners at an impressive pace. With annual volume growth of almost 50%, its 100,000th wheel this year recently left the Kaltbach cave. This can be attributed to its balanced flavour, intense but not sharp, which appeals to cheese fans both young and old.

“Subtle, balanced, aromatic, but not too tangy”. This was the positive assessment of consumers when KALTBACH Creamy & Tasty was launched in autumn 2012. Having proved popular ever since, its sales volumes have steadily risen and recently reached a peak of 100,000. 100,000 wheels of KALTBACH Creamy & Tasty left the Kaltbach cave between 1 January and 1 December 2016 – the first time the semi-hard cheese produced in Emmen by Emmi and aged in the Kaltbach cave for four months has reached this magic mark in annual volume.

The sandstone cave in Kaltbach has been used to age cheese since as far back as the 1950s. Located in the municipality of Mauensee, it has been owned by Emmi since 1993. In 2005, Emmi launched the KALTBACH brand to market speciality cheeses from the sandstone cave.

In order to meet growing demand, Emmi extended the cave system between 2008 and 2010 from 970 to 2,130 metres, thus creating room for around 150,000 cheese wheels. Whereas sales were made up almost exclusively by KALTBACH Emmentaler AOP in the early years, today KALTBACH Le Gruyère AOP is the most sought-after cheese speciality from the cave. Around 55,000 of the 35-kilogram wheels leave the cave every year.

Launched in autumn 2012, KALTBACH Creamy & Tasty has developed into a further favourite. Its sales have steadily increased by an average of almost 50% each year and on 1 December 2016, it broke the 100,000 wheel mark, meaning that around 400,000 kilograms of this aromatic semi-hard cheese are set to be sold this year. This impressive growth can be attributed to its balanced character, with an intense taste that is not too tangy. The particularly creamy texture, which is achieved thanks to a high proportion of cream, clearly sets it apart from other semi-hard cheeses.

KALTBACH Creamy & Tasty is a real hit in terms of exports, with almost 90% of this cheese being exported. It is particularly popular in Germany, where more than half of the total amount sold is consumed. KALTBACH Creamy & Tasty is also available in the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Austria, North America and even the Philippines.