Cutting edge cheese cultures

DEMAND for cheese is growing worldwide. Whilst dairy product consumption in developed countries is forecast to increase only modestly, cheese will be the exception, whilst in developing regions the consumption of all products increases vigorously at around 30% per year since 2008-20101. "New packaging technology, more convenience and possible substitutability with meats [will help boost] cheese consumption," noted a recent OSEC-FAO report.

Nonetheless, consumption in most Asia Pacific countries –with the exception of New Zealand, Australia and India, which are the region's major dairy producers – is very low at around 200g per capita in most East Asian countries (see table). Increasing population and income levels and exposure to Western culture and cuisine are driving this growth, especially amongst the younger generation.

In many cases, the introduction to consumption is through soft cheeses with which some Asian cultures are familiar. India's paneer, the most well known of Asian cheeses, is a pressed, un-aged and acid-set cheese. From the dairy-producing island of Hokkaido in Japan, comes Sakura (‘cherry blossom') – a mild and creamy white cheese flavoured with mountain cherry leaves and that matures well. In the Philippines, kesong puti (‘white cheese') is a fresh cheese made from the unskimmed milk from water buffaloes, which is traditionally served with pan de sal (a breakfast roll) or to top bibingka (a rice cake).

New life to cottage cheese

Dairies all over the world are continuously looking for means to make their production more cost-effective whilst preserving or even improving the taste of their products. This is even truer in many parts of Asia, where the cheese-making industry is still at its nascent stage. Danish food ingredients company Chr. Hansen's new Fresco 3000 culture program for cottage cheese comes with an attractive promise: Make more cheese from the same milk and make it even better than before.

The series is designed to provide a cheese yield increase of 2 to 5 per cent for cottage cheese manufacturers. "For any dairy with a sizeable cottage cheese production this yield gain represents a considerable economic upside," said Theis Bacher, marketing manager, Cheese Cultures.

Over the past decade, Chr. Hansen's Fresco series has sparked the international conversion from bulk starter production of cottage cheese to direct-to-the-vat technology. More than half of the world's 600,000 tons of cottage cheese is made with a direct-to-the-vat concept. In particular, the programme has had a breakthrough in North America, the world's largest market for cottage cheese.

"The opportunity to reduce production costs together with improved cheese quality and more robustness against phage attacks gives us reason to believe that we can increase the market potential for cultures in the cottage cheese market. The phage robustness that comes with the new blending concepts behind the Fresco 3000 series provides greater dependability than ever before. Dependability that provides improved product quality and hopefully, a better night's sleep," Mr Bacher explained.

Apart from these obvious production advantages, the new culture series for cottage cheese come with powerful consumer benefits: a deliciously smooth texture and mild taste provided by the cultures. The high-protein, low fat and low sugar content of cottage cheese also hits the healthy dairy trend spot on.

"The cottage cheese category has long been characterised by low growth and low innovation, but recent packaging and fruit flavour innovations have brought cottage cheese closer to the yoghurt segment. Due to this kinship with yoghurt – one of Chr. Hansen's long-standing key dairy applications – we have been able to lAir Jordan II 2 Shoes