Cheese has become an important growth point for dairy consumption

Some time ago, the "Three-Year Action Plan for Cheese Innovation and Development to Help the Competitiveness of the Dairy Industry" formulated by the China Dairy Association was officially released, putting forward the overall goal of cheese industry development: by 2025, the national cheese output will reach 500,000 tons, and the cheese retail market will exceed 30 billion yuan
.
In recent years, more and more dairy companies have begun to deploy the cheese industry
.

Taking Yili as an example, in the third quarter of this year, the second growth curve of milk powder and cheese business as the core category lived up to expectations and performed well
.
Among them, the revenue of cheese business increased by more than
30% year-on-year.
On the channel side, cheese and liquid milk continue to develop new outlets, and the increase in shop stores has also made the cheese business grow significantly faster than the average growth rate of the industry, and the market share continues to increase
.

Cheese is a signature product
in the mature stages of the dairy industry.
Liu Changquan, director of the Industrial Economics Research Office of the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed that on the one hand, accelerating the development of the cheese industry is conducive to meeting the growing consumption demand
of urban and rural residents for cheese.
With the upgrading of food consumption and the diversification of consumption structure of urban and rural residents, the proportion of dry dairy products in dairy consumption continues to grow, among which cheese is becoming an important growth point
of China's dairy product consumption.

On the other hand, accelerating the development of the cheese industry is an inevitable requirement
to improve the domestic dairy supply capacity and optimize the supply structure of dairy products.
In the case of the rising proportion of dry dairy products such as cheese, only by promoting the development of the domestic cheese industry can we change the long-term situation that China's cheese consumption demand is mainly met by imports, and can we achieve the country's requirements
for the dairy industry to ensure supply security and achieve the goal of 70% self-sufficiency.

Xin Guochang, deputy director of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that the development of the cheese industry is an important starting point to promote the revitalization of the dairy industry and promote dairy consumption, which is not only conducive to the coordinated development of the industry, but also conducive to meeting the diversified dairy consumption demand
.

From the perspective of enterprises, dairy companies are vying to deploy the cheese industry, mainly due to the change in the consumption structure of dairy products and the huge growth potential of the cheese market; From the perspective of industry, it is conducive to accelerating product innovation and quality improvement through competition, promoting the growth of the domestic cheese industry and the improvement
of the domestic dairy supply system.

It is worth noting that the current level of cheese production and consumption in China is still low
.
From the perspective of product line, the market is still dominated by children's cheese products, with less natural cheese, more processed cheese, and other problems such as product homogenization are still prominent
.
From the perspective of industry data, the current market performance of children's cheese products is also showing a downward trend, and consumers have certain aesthetic fatigue and appreciation fatigue
.

"It's important
to look for a second growth curve for cheese.
" Zhang Yipeng, vice president of Yili Group, believes that in order to allow more Chinese families to buy cheese and are willing to buy cheese, it is necessary to further expand the target group, broaden the consumption scenarios of cheese, launch different forms of products, and break the limitation
of room temperature and low temperature.

How to promote the development of the cheese industry has become a common concern
of the industry.
Liu Changquan said that the development of China's dairy industry has always faced problems such as high costs and insufficient competitiveness, and the cheese industry is a short board
in China's dairy industry.
On the one hand, factors such as transportation cost and timeliness have less inhibitory effect on imports; On the other hand, the foreign cheese industry is more diverse, the product advantages are more prominent, and the ability to meet the diversified consumption demand of cheese is stronger, and it is difficult for the domestic cheese industry to completely reverse the disadvantages
in products in the short term.

Chai Xuan, founder and CEO of Miaokolanduo, believes that the cheese industry needs to accelerate structural upgrading
from four aspects: industrial structure, market education, endogenous growth, and specialty cheese.
Make high-quality, distinctive and market demand sub-category products to enhance the richness of
cheese products.

"Cheese is an important starting point
for optimizing the structure of dairy products, increasing dairy consumption and promoting the revitalization of the dairy industry.
" Liu Yaqing, vice president and secretary general of the China Dairy Association, said that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's cheese innovation and development should build a high-quality milk source base, improve scientific and technological innovation capabilities, and consolidate the foundation
for industrial development.
At the same time, it is necessary to accelerate digital transformation and upgrading, promote the integration and development of the industrial chain, improve and optimize the product structure, and expand new marketing channels
.
In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the popularization of science and guidance, and expand the cheese consumption market
.

Liu Changquan said that the fundamental way to promote the development of the domestic cheese industry is to give full play to the local advantages of neighboring consumers, develop cheese products that are more in line with the habits of Chinese consumers for local tastes and preferences, continuously increase the supply of local natural cheese products, and achieve industrial development
on the basis of solving product disadvantages and more closely facing consumer demand.