February 2,2015
Not all dairy products are doing well with consumers theses days. Not so cheese and particularly mozzarella cheese enjoying a boom in consumption and production.Think SuperBowl weekend and all the Mexican food and pizzas gobbled up watching the game! Pizza Hut announced after the game they set a sales record this weekend.
While America’s cheese consumption has increased 42% over the last 25 years, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture it has been mozzarella that is tops in California, the US’s largest producer. Production of the low fat cheese variety has doubled in California since 2000 according to CDFA while Monterey and Cheddar production has actually declined in the Golden State.
Incredibly, Mozzarella now accounts for over 50% of all cheese making in California as of 2014.
Tulare/Kings are by far the biggest producers of mozzarella cheese with major plants in Tulare and Lemoore accounting for most of that.
Consumption of the mild tasting cheese has taken off as American are eating out more often , and when they do, frequenting Mexican and Italian restaurants. Consider that these restaurants and pizza makers are piling on more cheese than they used to with Domino’s 2010 redesign of their pizzas adding 40 percent more cheese.
