UK Cheese Market Returns to Growth
Research by Kantar Worldpanel has found sales of traditional cheddar in the UK are down 4% year-on-year, while blue cheese sales are up 8%. Cheddar is still the largest section of the market, 53% of all cheese sold, but UK consumers are increasingly enjoying continental and blue cheese.
Overall, the cheese market has increased in value by 0.6% – this is an improvement on last year’s decline of -1.1%. Shoppers are buying more per trip and more often, but there has been a consistent decrease in the average price per kilo.
Kantar Worldpanel divides the cheese market in seven slices: cheddar, continental, mini portions, territorials (such as Caerphilly, Cheshire), blue, processed and soft white. Mini portions have seen the strongest growth in both value and volume.
Looking at which supermarkets are selling more cheese, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl are over-trading the most. Collectively, these stores represent 18% of the cheese market, compared to 14% of the grocery market.
