15 Most Consumed Cheeses in America

Ali Ahmed

Wed, Aug 2, 2023, 2:07 PM12 min read

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In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 most consumed cheeses in America. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of the cheese industry, you can go directly to 5 Most Consumed Cheeses in America.

Cheese is one of the most popular, nutritious, and oldest of all the dairy foods. Today, there are hundreds of types of cheeses that exist and are produced in various different countries. Cheese is available in a number of different forms. It can be sliced, crumbled, grated, and even melted to be used in a variety of different dishes and meals.

Previously, we discussed in one of our articles, 20 Countries With The Highest Dairy Consumption, that when it comes to milk, cheese, yogurt, and other dairy delights, the US ranked among the top countries in terms of consumption. Today, we will be looking at the types of cheeses that are most consumed in the country. First, let’s take a look at what the cheese industry has to offer.

The Cheese Market Set To Experience Growth and Increased Demand as Fast Food Industry Booms

Before the COVID-19 crisis, the consumption of cheese was continuously rising in the US. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), despite the fact that the overall US dairy consumption remained flat from 1979 to 2019, consumption of cheese in the country more than doubled. But like any other industry, the cheese industry was subjected to unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 crisis. Disruptions in the supply chain and distribution of goods because of lockdowns in various regions halted the cheese trade. On top of that, shutting down of restaurants and fast food chains caused a huge reduction in demand for cheese. To truly understand the severity of the challenges that the cheese industry and cheese producing countries had to face, it is important to note that fresh cheese items are highly perishable products.

However, the demand for cheese has since recovered thanks to the thriving fast food industry. The global cheese market size was valued at $83.4 billion in 2022, according to a report by Research and Markets. The market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.12% from 2023 through 2028, pushing the global cheese market to reach a value of around $120.2 billion by the end of the forecasted period. The boom in consumption of fast food items is one of the key factors driving growth in the cheese market. As more customers around the world turn towards western food, the usage of cheese in various fast food items, such as pizzas, pasta, and burgers, continues to positively influence the cheese market. Moreover, the rising adoption of cheese products in other various cuisines combined with growing consumption of cheese by household consumers, as cheese contains nutrients and vitamins, is expected to further augment market growth.

The rise in consumption and sales of cheese could prove to be truly beneficial for stocks like The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC), The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR), and Conagra Brands, Inc. (NYSE:CAG).

The cheese market as well as the fast food industry in the US looks set to thrive in the near future. On June 20, Bloomberg reported that Groupe Lactalis, which is a family-owned company from France and the largest dairy company in the world, is looking to expand their business in the US after a $3.2 billion deal to acquire cheese brands from The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC). The US is now the French dairy giant’s second largest market. Peter Cotter, chief executive officer of Lactalis, said during an interview at the firm’s office in Chicago that the US is a much bigger country than France. He added about the market in the US and said "the absolute growth opportunity that exists I think makes it the perfect growth market."

Wide availability of cheese is also helping some of the biggest fast food companies in the US. On July 27, Reuters reported that some of the fast food chains in the US reported stronger profits as the cost for cheese as well as other ingredients eased down. Lower cheese prices helped the giant pizza chain – Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) to report impressive quarterly profits on July 24 after inflation had forced them to raise menu prices a few quarters ago. For the fiscal second quarter of 2023, Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) reported earnings per share of $3.08 and outperformed EPS estimates by $0.02. The company's revenue for the quarter amounted to $1.02 billion. As of August 2, shares of Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) have surged over 17% on a year-to-date basis.

As a result of higher profitability, fast food chains and restaurants will also be looking to expand their business, which in turn will also have a positive influence on the cheese market. Here are some comments from Domino's Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) Q2 2023 earnings call:

"Domino's unit economics remain strong with continued EBITDA growth for our U.S. franchisees. We are on track to deliver average U.S. franchised store profitability of at least $150,000 in 2023. Moving to international. Same store sales in our international business, excluding currency impact, increased 3.6%. Our international store count increased by 170 net new stores, comprised of 223 store openings and 53 closures."

Pixabay/Public Domain

Methodology

For this article, we used data from two different sources to rank the 15 most consumed cheeses in America. We collected data for this list from the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), where we found the latest data available for cheese consumption per capita for selected cheese varieties. However, the USDA ERS only reported data for 8 different types of cheeses until 2021. We used this data to rank our top 8 most consumed cheeses in America based on the per capita consumption of each type, starting from the least consumed at number 8 and then moving on to the most consumed at number 1.

To rank the rest of the types of cheese and to provide the readers with an accurate representation of the most consumed cheeses in America, we used results from a poll conducted by YouGov in March, 2021, where they surveyed 8815 US adults to find out their favorite cheese. We used this data to rank the rest of the list's entries from 15 to 9, starting from the less preferred cheese types and moving on to the more preferred cheese types according to results of the survey while also excluding, for this part, the types of cheese for which data was available on the USDA Economic Research Service as they are to be ranked higher in the list.