Steady growth for premium cheese lines Importers face fuel price hike The weakening pound is having less impact on the imported cheese business than fuel costs: some hauliers have already announced increases from November. This is unlikely to disturb the trade in speciality cheeses, which enjoy reasonable margins and are shipped in relatively small quantities, but will make some of the high volume, low margin products such as mild Cheddar less attractive. Speciality cheeses are finding favour with British consumers: in the first five months of this year, shipments of Camembert have shown a 26% gain on the same period last in 1998. Likewise, cows' milk feta from Germany, Denmark and France (as well as Greece) advanced by over 50% over the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year. "People are looking for something with more taste," HT Webb joint md Alan Preston told The Grocer. As an importer of specialist cheeses, he trades with over 20 substantial dairy firms and keeps over 1,000 SKUs. For the most part, the comparison with trends in the Cheddar market hold, in which there is a pronounced shift towards stronger flavours. The pattern stumbles, sadly, with strong blue cheeses, such as Roquefort or Gorgonzola, both of which have recorded drops in tonnages during the first five months of this year. Demand for organic cheese is outstripping supply, adds Preston. "It's still a very small market, but it's growing fast." Since customs figures record cheese by manufacture and not the status of its ingredients, there are no readily available source of figures for the sector. {{PROVISIONS }}

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