Mixed bag

Dairy Field, Aug 2003 by Cook, Julie

Bold Moves

While yogurt continues to grow share of stomach through innovative new products and targeted marketing efforts, cottage cheese remains on the downward spiral that has defined the category for much of the last 15 years. Both dollar and unit sales fell 1.2 percent last year with private label hanging onto the top spot with a 38.3 share.

Greg Hansen, vice president of marketing for Fargo, N.D.-based Cass-Clay Cooperative Creamery Association, blames the category's struggles on some dairies' attempts to "take the easy route trying to find a cost-effective cottage cheese." Such products failed to perform up to expectations, he claims, leaving consumers dissatisfied and damaging the category's overall reputation. "They weren't very good, so they turned a lot of people off from cottage cheese," Hansen explains. "It's hard to get Generation X to eat cottage cheese, for example, because they remember it as being some pretty nasty stuff."

As a result of the category's lackluster performance of late, Old Home Foods discontinued its single-serve cottage cheese line last year in order to concentrate on traditional tubs. Although the products had a loyal consumer base, the single-serve line represented a very small part of the company's total cottage cheese volume. From a financial standpoint, therefore, continuing to produce'it "just didn't make sense," says Holdsworth.

The move proved to be a wise decision, according to Holdsworth, who says that Old Home's cottage cheese volume has not only maintained steady, but has actually risen since the single-serves became history. All in all, however, cottage cheese remains far from a priority for the company. "We will continue to make cottage cheese, but it's not something we are spending a lot of time developing new products for," says Holdsworth. "Unless there's a new innovation for the near future, you are probably going to see a continued slow decline in the category."

That being said, Hansen believes the industry has risen to the challenge in recent years and begun producing better tasting products. Although he says it's going to be difficult to bring any real excitement to the category, Hansen does reveal that Cass-Clay has considered fruit-flavoring the dressing, rather than putting actual fruit in the product. "Because the fruit tends to bleed in the product anyway, it ends up not being very eye appealing," he explains. "If it's going to turn color, do it big, make it a color. It's a bold move."

Meanwhile, Wendy Ossenberger, director of product development for Phoenix-based Shamrock Farms, points to her company's 5.5-ounce single-serve cottage cheese cups with mix-in fruits as a successful innovation. Available in Peach, Strawberry, Pineapple, Apple Cinnamon, Mixed Berry and Chive & Onion, the cups have proven particularly popular with female consumers seeking a sweet treat that won't make them feel guilty, according to Ossenberger. She adds that they are typically consumed at different usage occasions than multi-serve units, allowing traditional tubs to maintain their value with the consumer. "With the new product innovations, such as fruit mix-in, single-serve cottage cheese cups, taste is not compromised," says Ossenberger. "These cups are a good example of how cottage cheese can be a food that is simple, easy and tasty for kids and mom."