Local cheeses popular for New Year’s Eve parties.

21/09/2007

Local and regional British cheeses have had an upsurge in popularity recently. French, Italian and other European cheeses aren’t seeing the same level of increase in sales, says a report released today.

If you are planning on offering a selection of cheeses for your New Year’s Eve party nibbles try Lancashire, Cheshire and Red Leicester, which according to Mintel who analysed the sales are seeing the biggest increase in popularity.

Between 2004 and 2006 there was an increase in cheese sales of regional British cheeses by 16 percent, around £220 million. Whereas the European cheese sales decreased by 7 percent over the same period, about £340 million in sales.

The increase in local cheese sales has come from an increasing awareness of buying locally made food and beverages says Mintel’s senior consumer analyst, David Bird. He continues to say that the traditional favourites such as Brie used to be an occasional treat but because prices have dropped people feel they can eat them everyday, which has continued to drop the prices and market value.

Britons spent £1.9 billion on cheese last year and this is expected to rise to £1.93 billion for 2007. Many of us will be using locally grown cheeses for our nibbles and hors d’oeurves at New Year’s Eve parties.

Cheddar cheese is not classed as a regional cheese, it has its own separate group, but still makes up 52 percent of the United Kingdom cheese sales and it is up 7 percent in sales compared to 2004.