Manufacturers compete to take home a slice of the cheese sector

The cheese market has witnessed an array of new ventures this month, with companies taking cheese outside of the sandwich arena and embracing the indulgence and convenience sectors instead.

"We've been concentrating on the development of sweet cheeses, as this continues to be the most popular category," says Ilchester cheese sales manager Neil Meredith. The company has invested £100,000 on the construction of a new product development (NPD) centre, which it claims will become a centre of excellence for the creation of new blended cheeses.

The Somerset-based firm has already acquired new NPD manager, Linda Lewis-Williams, and NPD assistant, Julie Duke, and is looking to recruit two more staff at the centre to work on sampling and Christmas products.

"We are always looking at incorporating functional ingredients into our products," adds Meredith. "However, cheese isn't the first point of call for healthy foods as it is generally deemed to be an indulgent sector. So the focus is mainly on new flavours that tantalise people's palates."

The Cheese Company, a subsidiary of Milk Link, is also looking to tickle some taste buds with Old El Paso Mexican Style Grated Cheese. The firm has been granted a licence from General Mills to manufacture and sell the product in the UK.

The cheese is a speciality blend of cheddar and mozzarella, jalapeno peppers, red and green bell peppers and capsicum seeds. It is processed in Oswestry, Shropshire, and packaged in resealable stand-up units. The company claims there is a gap in the market for cheese for specific meals, rather than as a sandwich filling. And the grated format is aimed at busy consumers who need the convenience of ingredients at their fingertips, says General Mills marketing director Linda Hipkiss.

Yeo Valley Organic is another firm looking to benefit from the convenience sector with the introduction of: Thick Slices of Organic Mature Cheddar; a pack of Grated Mature Cheddar; and Red Leicester and Mild Cheddar Cheese Sticks.

"Changing lifestyles have created a fast-growing demand for convenience cheese packs, but until now there hasn't been an entire organic range," says marketing director Ben Cull. "We are including recipes on the back of packs to encourage usage."

The company entered the cheese sector in 2004 and has a 9% share of the organic market.