Demand for American cheese is increasing.
That’s according to the latest USDA Cold Storage Report. American cheese inventory fell by more than 4,000,000 pounds from December, indicating some support for the current market. Usually, inventories increase in the last half of the year due to seasonality. However, Ag Dairy’s Branch Manager says we’re seeing buyers buy aggressively, and that’s why we’re up to almost $2 per pound.
“So that report gives some hope that these prices could still hold for the year, but a lot of things could change. We do start growing inventory at the beginning of the year, but seeing a decline from December to January is very positive.”
The January report also showed Swiss cheese inventories are 10% higher than this time last year.
Food prices increased in December, but not as much as expected, according to the latest Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
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