The brands are giving own label some seriously strong competition in the pre-packed market while processed cheese is capturing the kids’ imagination, especially as a savoury lunchtime snack

The growth of pre-packed cheese continues apace. Own label retains the lion’s share of the market, but in-roads are being made by the brands.
Cathedral City has strengthened its grip on the top brands ranking with growth of almost 44% year-on-year. Its innovative zip lock packaging has helped to make the brand stand out among its rivals.
This growth means that Cathedral City boasts almost a 10% share of the market and almost £20m more sales than nearest competitor McLelland.
Both are cheddar products, far and away the most popular cheese with British consumers. In fact, as six of the top ten brands are cheddar, this should be seen by manufacturers as an opportunity to broaden the tastes of the nation rather than adding to an already crowded sector.
It is interesting that in a category where products have a naturally high fat content, it is the regular Philadelphia which is making ground on the Light variant. It could be that lower fat cheese is deemed by consumers to be defeating the point of cheese - perhaps the theory is that if you’re going to have something a bit fatty, why risk compromising on taste.
While adults are experimenting with new pre-packed brands, the processed cheese market continues mainly to target children. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, the range of cheese-based snacks available is unrivalled in the savoury lunchtime market.
The Dairylea brand dominates, although sales of Lunchables have fallen by about 8% since 2002. Whether this has any direct link to the success of Cheestrings Attack-A-Snak lunch packs, which have registered sales of more than £3.6m since launch, it is difficult to say.
However, with Dairylea tubs and strips variants growing strongly, it is unlikely to cause any great panic at manufacturer Kraft’s headquarters.
Golden Vale’s Cheestrings are still Lunchables’ closest rival but it is Bel’s Babybel portions which is the fastest growing brand. Some heavyweight TV support has helped to propel the brand to sales in excess of £17m and 26% growth.