LET THEM EAT CHEESE With dairy so central to New Zealander’s diets, cheese will always be popular. IRI looks at the nuances of this sector and how it’s risen strong during the pandemic.
Pravina Patel Insights Consultant Solutions & Innovation at IRI
The Chilled department accounts for 19% of New Zealand pre-packaged grocery sales1 and saw a lift of 8.7% in 2020 prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic2. However, the latest 52-week period is showing a 0.7% drop on the previous year. Cheese is the second-largest chilled category behind fresh milk and cream and sales rocketed by 13.6%2 in 2020. According to research from Tetra Pak, a food processing and packaging solutions company, more than a third of global cheese consumers reported an increase in consumption of cheese during the pandemic3. In the past year, Kiwi shoppers purchased $545 million of cheese, an additional $9 million on last year, although growth decelerated to 1.7%1. Natural cheese makes up over half of the cheese category’s value but enjoyed only an 0.8% bump in sales on last year. Edam remains the ‘big cheese’ in Kiwi homes, with a 29% share of natural cheese sales, followed by Tasty and Colby. Specialty cheeses account for 37% of total cheese, an increase of 0.4 points1. Throughout 2020, specialty cheeses saw a solid uptake of 8.1% as consumers craved flavour and variety2. While annual growth has slowed down this year to 2.9%, it is outperforming the total category. Within specialty cheese, deli eclipsed the chiller 3.2% versus 2.5%. Processed cheese sales rose modestly during the same timeframe, increasing 2.1%1.
Versatile Cheese is a core component found in New Zealand kitchens. Working in its favour is the categories’ versatility and breadth of flavours; eaten as an ingredient within a recipe (51%), a snack at any time of the day (49%) or as an accompaniment to a meal (48%)3. In-home snacking is a growing trend, according to IRI’s 2020 state of the industry survey 58% of Kiwis snack two or more times per day4. Manufacturers offer plenty of portable and convenient options; natural and processed cheese slices and lunchbox cheeses increased sales this year by 7.6% and 22.6% respectively. Natural snacking cheeses are also rising in popularity, climbing 22.8% on last year and generating $9.7 million in sales, with new product launches invigorating the segment and contributing to a third of annual sales1.
Serving ‘at-home’ needs Cheese’s star role in the home has helped drive growth. Unsurprisingly, convenience and shortcuts to meal preparation are winning. Grated cheese represents almost one-fifth of natural cheese sales, realising an additional $1.4 million on last year. Natural mozzarella/pizza cheese saw sales rise 1.3% while specialty mozzarella cheese increased by an impressive 15.2% in the latest 52-week period. Mascarpone, commonly used in desserts, also grew by 3.1% compared to the previous 12 months1.
Entertaining made easy More than half of Kiwi consumers state they ‘enjoy entertaining friends and family at home’4 and consumers look to social media platforms like Instagram for inspiration, following hashtags like #cheeseboards with 1.4 million posts and #cheese with 26.9 million posts5. Specialty cheeseboards, offering a curated selection of cheeses, surged 10.9% compared to last year1. 22
FMCG BUSINESS - OCTOBER 2021