Philadelphia is making its first foray into the free-from market with the launch of a lactose-free soft cheese.

Rolling out next month, Philadelphia Lactose Free was a response to growing consumer demand for free-from products, said brand owner Mondelez, and followed a successful launch in other European countries. It has secured listings in the major UK mults, and will carry a £1.99 rsp for a 170g pack.

The launch comes as the value of free-from dairy is rising 10% year on year to £74.5m, while the wider free-from category has more than doubled in size to £355.1m over the past five years [Kantar Worldpanel 52 w/e 14 April 2014].

There was sufficient demand for the product to succeed in the UK, said Philadelphia UK marketing director Jennie Spurr.

“This is a first for Philadelphia, and we are the biggest soft white cheese brand to enter free-from,” she said.

The launch will be supported as part of the brand’s £8m marketing spend for 2014, including a return to TV during August. It follows a packaging revamp for the complete Philadelphia range this month.

Like Arla brand Lactofree, which was recently expanded with a mature Cheddar, the Philadelphia cheese is free from lactose rather than dairy. But there has also been a recent raft of dairy-free launches, including yoghurt brand CoYo rolling out coconut-based ‘ice creams’, and Gü founder James Averdieck launching dairy-free brand The Coconut Collaborative.

Free-From Food Awards organiser Michelle Berriedale-Johnson said big companies were now moving into free from for fear of “missing out”.

“We have seen this over the past few years after a period of suppliers being tentative,” she added. “People are starting to take notice of the growth in this sector.”

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