Mixed bag

Dairy Field, Aug 2003 by Cook, Julie

HP Hood, meanwhile, produces a line of tub-size flavored cottage cheese, including Pineapple, Black Pepper & Herbs, Chive, Pineapple & Cherry, and Chive & Toasted Onion. The Chelsea, Mass.-based company also offers a full array of cottage cheese recipes on its Web site. They include Baked Noodles and Cottage Cheese Casserole, Garden Quiche, Spinach Stuffed Shells and Strawberry Parfait, among dozens of others.

Making cottage cheese-friendly recipes readily available at the click of a mouse may help boost sales, as more consumers begin to see the product as an ingredient, rather than just a snack or side dish. However, far greater efforts are going to have to take place if cottage cheese is ever going to develop the kind of following that most other dairy categories enjoy. "More work needs to be done to effectively communicate the health benefits of cottage cheese and promote early product trial by the consumer," says Ossenberger. "As with any category, getting children involved early helps grow the overall category and product innovations, making them lifelong users."

So are kids the answer to cottage cheese's woes? After all, heavily targeting children worked for yogurt. Not only did it boost consumption significantly, but it also served to raise a whole generation of dedicated yogurt-eaters. Holdsworth, for one, believes the idea of kid-oriented cottage cheese products has potential. In fact, he reveals that Old Home has actually looked at some prototypes for kids' cottage cheese, but has not taken matters further yet. As for when consumers might see such a product in their grocer's dairy case, he has his reservations. "If you give them cottage cheese nowadays, a lot of kids turn up their nose," he says. "They'd rather get something else, something more fun."

What's more, says Ossenberger, parents typically view cottage cheese as more expensive than other healthy options, such as yogurt. Still, she believes that educating consumers about the health benefits of cottage will prove instrumental in boosting consumption and getting sales figures back in the black. "You can never have too much education on this category as a whole and how it fits in with a healthy lifestyle," she says. "Consumers have an idea that cottage cheese is good for them, so if it's promoted properly, we have every expectation that we will experience an increase as different diets emerge touting cottage cheese."

Maintaining the Mainstays

Sour cream continues to experience modest gains, rising 2.3 percent in dollars and 1.2 percent in units this past year. Teresa Marquez, marketing sales executive, Organic Valley, La Farge, Wis., credits the growing popularity of Mexican foods, as well as the increasing affluence of the burgeoning Hispanic-American population for boosting consumption of sour cream. Marquez also says cooking show host and author Rick Bayliss has raised awareness of Mexican cuisine, particularly among young people in search of a quick and tasty home-cooked meal. "That kind of interest in ethnic cooking, particularly Southwestern Mexican, is growing," she says. "It's the ultimate 20-minute meal."