U.S. dairy farmers say offering consumers a diverse range of delicious options is key to boosting sales. They say the process begins by getting creative with cheese production.
According to Marshall Reece with Associated Milk Producers Inc., “What we are starting to see is that customers and consumers are back to wanting to try new things, and that has led us into developing new inclusion cheese varieties and new inclusion cheese flavors. So, trying to capitalize on where consumers wanting to try new things, we are trying to provide that for them with some new cheese flavors and varieties. We have the ability to include various things into cheese, so whether that be peppers, chipotles, smokey cheddars, Carolina Reaper. It’s almost like the hotter, the better.”
The cooperative explains that there’s a process for selecting new flavors to introduce, which involves staying up-to-date with the latest food trends.
“We certainly try to follow the trends that are being published in numerous food magazines, restaurant magazines, etc, as to what menu items are hot. So, we’ll take those as ideas, and then even just talking to our customers and talking to consumers, what are they interested in. One of the growing popular trends is you now see hot honey on pizzas. You now see hot honey on chicken sandwiches, so we’re experimenting with that as a way to incorporate that trend into some cheese varieties.”
