Article Archive - December 31, 2004

Blue cheese may have been ‘accident,’ but its popularity isn’t

Editor’s Note: Welcome to Cheese Market News’ new monthly cheese spotlight. Each month, CMN will profile a different cheese in these pages, giving our readers a comprehensive look at production, marketing and sales of a particular cheese, as well as any other interesting details we can unearth.
We hope this feature helps to give readers an even more complete view of the dairy industry and perhaps an idea or two for their businesses. So without further ado, meet this month’s featured cheese: Blue cheese.

MADISON, Wis. — Cheesemakers throughout the country are getting the “blues” — literally.

More and more cheesemakers are making Blue cheese, and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) suggests that “if high-fashion in the cheese world has a color this year, it’s blue.”

With distinctive, robust flavors and textures that range from dry and crumbly to deliciously creamy, blue-veined cheeses satisfy on many levels, WMMB adds.

Sales of packaged Blue cheese are up through Oct. 31, 2004, according to International Dairy Foods Association’s (IDFA) Cheese Market Research Report, with grated/crumbled Blue cheese accounting for the greatest percentage of retail Blue cheese sales. The varieties of Blue being offered also are growing, with cheesemakers blending Blue with other cheeses, including Cheddar.

• Characteristics, history

It’s suggested that Blue cheese was invented when mold from the Penicillium family accidentally was transferred from bread to a nearby piece of cheese, WMMB says.

A number of countries produce variations of Blue cheese including France, Italy and Denmark.

Roquefort cheese, a blue-green veined cheese, is named for the village of Roquefort in southeastern France, where its manufacture has been an important industry for more than two centuries, according to the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research’s (CDR) World Cheese Exchange Data Base. French regulations limit use of the word “Roquefort” to cheese made in the Roquefort region from ewe’s milk.

While documents date the history of Roquefort cheese back to the 8th century, WMMB’s Wisconsin Cheese- cyclopedia states there is no record of the first Blue cheese.

In 1928, the Confederation Foundation representing Roquefort producers was established.

The Confederation Foundation’s mission is to defend and promote the protected designation of origin (PDO) for Roquefort, as well as offer technical assistance to ewe breeders and control of the quality and content of individual milks.

Similarly, Gorgonzola is a Blue cheese with a PDO in Italy. However, Gorgonzola is made with cow’s milk. According to CDR, Gorgonzola’s history dates back to nearly 1,000 A.D. The Italian provinces of Pavia, Novara, Milan and Como are large producers of Gorgonzola, and in 1955 and 1977, Italians declared this area as the official region for production and maturation of Gorgonzola, according to the Consorzio di Tutela, the protection consortium for Gorgonzola. In 1996, the cheese earned the European protected designation of origin status.

Danablu, a Blue cheese made in Denmark, also is made from cow’s milk and, according to CDR, is richer than most Blues and more piquant.

Danablu was developed in approximately 1920 and was further developed by, among other things, homogenization of cheesemaking milk in about 1927, CDR says.

Danablu also is protected by standards of manufacture. The cheese is recognized as a Danish specialty, CDR says. This reputation has been obtained via legislative initiatives and efforts of a producer organization, which ensures the retention of the product’s traditional and characteristic features. In addition, Danablu is a PDO which can be supplemented by “Danish Blue Cheese,” CDR adds.

Meanwhile, American Blue cheeses are, like the French Blue and Danablu, virtually Roquefort-type cheeses, except for their being made from cow’s milk. Some cheesemakers in the United States also are creating Blue cheeses using milk from other species.

• Blue cheese production

In modern cheese plants, the method of producing Blue cheese includes mixing blue-mold powder with the curd, CDR says, with the cheese being pierced nearly a week after salting to allow air to reach the interior of the cheese, which is essential for mold growth.

Quantities of Blue cheese are made in the United States and Canada, with cheese of this type also being imported from Argentina, Denmark, France, Finland and Sweden, according to CDR.

A California Milk Advisory Board study, released this fall, estimates 2003 total U.S. production of all forms of Blue cheese was 55.5 million pounds.

USDA no longer reports Blue cheese production separately. In 1998, the last year in which figures were available, production of Blue and Gorgonzola reached 43.9 million pounds, up approximately 10 million pounds from the mid-1980s.

WMMB does note that given current trends, Blue cheese continues to be on the upswing. This is due in part to consumers’ thirst for more exciting, bolder flavors, WMMB adds.

• Usage

According to WMMB’s Cheese Channel Volume Study, the estimated use of Blue cheese in 2002 was 62.3 million pounds, up 20 percent from 2000’s 52.1 million pounds and up 28 percent from 1999.

The foodservice industry is the main user of Blue cheese, utilizing 51 percent, WMMB reports. The food processing industry accounts for 34 percent of Blue cheese usage, while retail accounts for 15 percent.

Blue cheese long has been used in salad dressing and dips, but also is crumbled on vegetables, fruits and pasta salads.

In addition, the cheese is used at white table cloth restaurants, with pork and Blue being a classic pairing. It’s use is even trickling down to family-style restaurants. Blue cheese burgers are available across several channels — from steakhouses to taverns to fast-food restaurants.

Although the retail sector accounts for the lowest percentage of Blue cheese usage, sales of packaged Blue cheese have increased in 2004, with the total amount of retail Blue cheese sold this year, as of Oct. 31, estimated in the 7-million-pound range, according to the International Dairy Foods Association’s (IDFA) Cheese Market Research Report.

Overall, the sale of packaged Blue cheese has increased through the first 10 months of 2004, with the average price for Blue cheese increasing more than 5 percent to $11.18 per pound during most of 2004 compared to 2003.

As of Oct. 31, year-to-date packaged Blue cheese sales volume is 4.2 million pounds. Packaged volume sales should account for approximately 60 percent of the total retail Blue sold, IDFA says. Another 40 percent is sold as random-weight deli style.

IDFA adds the major forms of Blue cheese are grated/crumbled, at 71 percent, and chunk/loaf, at 24 percent.

• Trends and innovation

In addition to showing up on or in everything from pizza to burgers, a number of new products using Blue are being introduced in the U.S. market, as well as internationally.

Blue cheese-stuffed olives are available in the United States, as are a number of ready-to-eat salads including Farfalle Pasta with Arugula Gorgonzola, WMMB reports.

The marketing board reports another salad kit which is available offers a combination of flavors and ingredients including baby spinach, dried cranberries, Blue cheese, candied pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

In Japan, a frozen chicken breast filet stuffed with three cheeses—Gouda, Cheddar and Blue — is being offered. The meal is accompanied by a separate packet of barbecue sauce made with red wine and Worcester sauce.

WMMB also reports low-carbohydrate Blue cheese biscuits are said to be a European-style snack with the robust flavor of real cheese and a crisp, crunchy texture that is ideal for topping off salads and soups. A new product referred to as wafer rolls was recently launched in France. They are rolled wafers that contain a Blue cheese filling.

CMN

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