Cheese, Butter & Yoghurt Consumption

IBISWorld forecasts cheese, butter and yoghurt consumption to decline by 1.7% in 2023-24, to 28.3 kilograms per capita. Consumer spending power has weakened in the face of decades high inflation and rising interest rates over the past two years. Dairy products in particular have not been immune to price rises, with the farmgate milk price forecast to rise 26.5% over the two years through 2023-24.

Cheese remains the most consumed dairy product, accounting for around half of the volume of non-milk dairy products consumed annually. Cheese consumption reached a record 15.0 kilograms per capita in 2022-23 (latest data available). Consumption rose sharply in 2021-22 as increasing disposable incomes encouraged consumers to increase consumption. This was boosted by the easing of pandemic restrictions which supported increased demand from food service channels. However, consumer demand has increasingly switched away from traditional lower cost varieties such as cheddar to premium varieties, such as fetta and camembert. This follows the overarching consumer trend in the food and beverage sector favouring quality over quantity. This has constrained per capita cheese consumption over much of the period.