Cheese consumption in SA has increased in the past 15 years: great news for local manufacturers.
The per capita consumption of cheese in SA has increased from one to 1,9 kg per year since 1995, according to a Euromonitor report, Cheese in South Africa. This is great news for local manufacturers, but is still much lower than many other cheese-producing countries.
‘South African cheese manufacturers should bear in mind that cheese quality doesn’t only mean a good-tasting cheese, but also a cheese that complies with all food safety requirements,’ says Kobus Mulder from Agri-Expo. Bigger manufacturers are constantly seeking to improve their quality through modern technologies, and smaller cheeseries should do the same as many
of these technologies are available to them.’
SA produces about 82 000 metric tons of cheese per year from 800 million litres of milk, Euromonitor reports, with about 51 per cent of this produced in the form of Cheddar (31 per cent) and Gouda (20 per cent) and the rest consisting of mainly mozzarella, feta and cream
cheese. Specialty cheeses are popular, with Italian types leading because of their versatility.
According to the same report, ‘There has been a 50 per cent growth of processed cheese in SA, mainly in the food service industry. It is estimated that 1 000 metric tons per month of mozzarella-type cheese is used on pizzas alone.’
Small cheese, big cheese
There is a growing demand for specialty cheeses in both large retailers and small delis. Gary White, owner of Gourmet Cheese, Johannesburg says, ‘The future trends depend on the type of people eating the cheeses. Eating cheeses and really appreciating them needs a little bit of understanding.’
Although a limited number of manufacturers have exported cheese to the European Union under the EU/SA Free Trade Agreement, SA is not yet a cheese exporting country. ‘We cannot export cheese,’ says Graeme de Jager, director of Pepperpro. ‘We supply [peppers] to the overseas market but have had to make deals with European soft cheese manufacturers for our peppers stuffed with cheese.’
‘The intelligent promotion of cheese per se, through well executed campaigns, is lacking and would help to increase consumption,’ he says. Demand for existing and new cheeses will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. How local cheese-makers rise to this challenge is yet to be seen.
