Mintel last examined the UK retail cheese market in September 2001, when the dairy industry was hit by foot-and-mouth disease. During the crisis, the market successfully held its volume and value, even rising slightly against 2000 levels. Its main challenges centred on the need to communicate more effectively with consumers, to broaden repertoires and reduce confusion at the fixture, thereby further driving volume and value sales across the entire cheese category.

This report has been designed to offer you a clear and practical understanding of the UK cheese market, offering the level of information you need to focus your marketing activity towards real demand and real opportunity. It provides a major overview of the developments that have shaped the market over the last two years, examining the category and its sectors in great detail. In addition, this report also contains exclusive insight into the consumer needs that underpin and determine the market dynamics, further bolstering your market knowledge.

Key findings include:

Favourable demographics offer marketers new opportunities - Young adults under 25 are light users of the category, yet their numbers are predicted to swell by 750,000 in the years to 2007. Having grown up with snacking habits and being frequent users of 'mini meals' there are significant opportunities for adult snacks. This will help to offset the decrease in under-15s of around 700,000 and help buffer the kid-targeted snack volume.

Answering all the key industry questions, including:

Have manufacturers and retailers been successful in educating the consumer in the type and uses of cheese?

How can the industry tackle the major merchandising issues of SKU proliferation and fixture confusion?

Is Britain's taste in cheese changing? Are there any signs of Cheddar’s dominance weakening?

Offering you new insight into:

- Market Drivers

- Market Size and Trends

- Market Segmentation

- The Supply Structure

- New Product Trends

- Distribution

- Advertising and Promotion

- Consumer attitudes and purchasing trends

- Future trends

- Five year sales forecasts

Other related reports include:

- Food Retailing - UK, Retail Intelligence, July 2003

- Sandwiches - UK, Leisure Intelligence, July 2003

- Reduced Fat and Reduced Calorie Foods - UK, Market Intelligence, April 2003

- Pasta and Pasta-based Meals - UK, Market Intelligence, February 2003

- Children's Packed Lunches - UK, Market Intelligence, December 2002

- Milk & Cream, Cheese and Yellow Fats - UK, Consumer Goods Europe, November 2002

- Snacking on the Go - UK, Market Intelligence, April 2002

- Lunch Foods - UK, Market Intelligence, January 2002

- Savoury Spreads - UK, Market Intelligence, March 2001

- Dairy Products - UK, Consumer Goods Europe, February 2001

and the forthcoming:

- After-school Snacking - UK, Market Intelligence, September 2003.

Definitions

This report covers the retail market for cheese, which the National Food Survey divides into two sectors: cheese in blocks (previously referred to as 'natural cheese') and processed cheeses.

Processed cheeses are those which generally include emulsifying salts and stabilisers to prevent further ripening or deterioration. These are sold in boxes, tubs, tubes or portions.

Cheese in blocks are free of additives and sold loose or prepacked. To allow greater understanding of the diversity of products and the size of the market, Mintel segments the cheese-in-blocks sector into the following categories:

· Cheddar or similar

· Other UK territorial cheeses, eg Caerphilly, Cheshire, Double Gloucester, Lancashire, Leicester, Stilton and Wensleydale

· Continental cheeses, eg Edam, Emmenthal, Gouda, Parmesan, Brie and Camembert

· Soft cheeses, eg cream cheese and cottage cheese.

Readers should be aware that continental soft cheeses are included in the continental category, rather than the soft cheese category. Furthermore, this report does not examine related products such as fromage frais and quark. Also excluded from the scope of this report are cheese dips (although they are mentioned where relevant for purposes of comparison) and sales to the catering or institutional trade, and to food manufacturers.