In the North American market, cheddar cheese powder is the largest consumed cheese powder, according to MarketsandMarkets’ senior research analyst, Shrikant Athavale. However, Parmesan cheese powder is expected to grow at a higher rate, followed by blue cheese powder.
Cheese powder growth drivers vary by region
Market analysts generally group the regions as matured markets and emerging markets, Athavale said. Europe and North America can be termed as matured markets, while Asia-Pacific and Latin America are considered emerging markets.
What mainly drives the growth of the cheese powder market in the matured markets is consumers’ reliance on ready meals and packaged snacks due to busy lifestyle, according to Athavale.
Even though the matured markets have a large market size, growth would be slow due to the marginal increase in the per capita consumption of cheese powder, said Athavale.
“Currently, North America is the largest consumer of cheese powder, and it’s likely to be the largest consumer globally in the next five years,” he said.
However, Athavale believes the emerging markets are more likely to experience significant growth in the near future, thanks to the rapid development of the packaged food industry and urbanization.
Does Bloomberg’s report have an impact on the US cheese powder market?
Bloomberg recently ran an article on Parmesan cheese that has generated considerable debate over the cellulose content in certain brands.
However, Athavale said this may not affect the growth of Parmesan cheese powder in the long run.
“Grated cheese can be sometimes consumed as a substitute to cheese powder,” he added. “The growth in the market is less likely to be affected due to growing popularity of cheese powder among consumers and stricter regulations by the FDA.”
Production innovation is needed in North America
Despite growth in the cheese powder market, Athavale said the challenge manufacturers face is the lack of technological innovation in North America.
“The majority of [the cheese powder manufacturers] rely on spray drying process, and other processes such as freeze drying are not economically viable.”
Athavale suggests North American manufacturers pay attention to production innovations, for example, innovation of cheese blends with the combination of two or more natural flavors.
“They may also need to focus on the emerging markets such as Mexico, Brazil, China and India as the import potential of these markets is on the rise,” he added.
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