Sales of cottage cheese have soared by 40 percent fueled by demand for high protein food – and viral recipes on TikTok, farmers say.
The dairy product is often seen as a throwback to the 70s and 80s but is now booming again because it is low fat, producers are reporting.
Earlier this year views of the hashtag #cottagecheese were set to hit a billion.
One producer, Graham’s Family Dairy in Scotland, has seen sales of the traditional curdled milk product surge by 40%.
It is partly thanks to the global demand for high-protein and low-fat dairy products, fuelled by viral recipes on TikTok.
“This last 14 months with cottage cheese has seen phenomenal growth,” observes managing director Graham.
“That’s great but it’s such big numbers that it has presented some challenges around just making sure that we are hitting the customer demand.
“We have done a lot of capital expenditure on that front to meet forward growth.”
Founded in 1939 by the present MD’s grandfather, another Robert, the Bridge of Allan-based business has grown into one of Scotland’s most familiar and successful Scottish food brands, with a growing presence on big supermarket operators’ shelves, as well as in independent stores, farm shops and delis.
It also ranks as a major export success story – with a large slice of its business now coming from beyond its home country.
Newly released results for the year ending March 31, 2024, show that turnover for the Stirlingshire business rose slightly to £153.1m, from £152.9m in 2022/23, with increased sales across all product lines.
Crucially, the company ended the year just past with a pre-tax profit of £2.8m. Soaring inflation and cost pressures alongside the heavy investment program led to Graham’s racking up a £1.3m loss before tax in the year to the end of March 2023 – the first deficit on that measure in its history.
Graham, whose father is also called Robert, describes the outcome for the year just finished as “positive” but says the business will need to “try and kick on from there.”
Much of its recent success has been driven by that sizeable investment in new products, including the dairy’s high-protein range, which features a range of Skyr yogurts.
Last year, it emerged that for the first time on record, the firm had seen sales of protein and Skyr products overtake sales of conventional milk in major supermarkets. Yet demand for more traditional products remains buoyant.
“Dairy is still in a great place despite all the noise two or three years ago about alternative milks,” says Graham.
“It’s being driven by cottage cheese and protein yogurts and also traditional products like our gold top milk and butter.
“The people who are driving that are actually a lot younger and that is really positive for dairy overall. They are seeing the health benefits, it’s relatively affordable and it tastes good.”
A £2m investment has been undertaken at the firm’s facility in Nairn, resulting in the launch of the Greek yogurt pouches, and allowing the company to maintain its position as the largest supplier of protein pouch products in the UK.
“We have done a lot of capex across the business,” Graham stresses.
“It’s a big number and we now need to maximize that new capacity.
“Really, it’s about getting through this year and for next year trying to get our returns up to a more sustainable level, allowing us to continue to invest in the business.
“We are going to have a decent year but these are still challenging times.
“As dairy farmers ourselves, who continue to milk our own cows, we understand the pressures of continued high energy, staffing and raw material costs.
“Energy prices are proving pretty stubborn and that is a concern,” he warns. “Electricity and gas are still pretty big numbers. We will need to work very hard to recover those costs.
“While they say that overall inflation is dropping, there are still upward pressures out there.”
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