Lactalis reveals how to maximise festive cheese sales

Lactalis UK & Ireland is urging retailers to maximise the potential of the cheese category in the run-up to Christmas and recommends stocking up on a variety of cheeses including hard and soft speciality, premium, hot eating and blue cheese, as well as selection packs, as these see the highest sales uplift during December.

“Over the last three years, 72 per cent of December cheese volume sales resulted from a cheese type that sees higher than average sales during this month," said Héloïse Le Norcy-Trott, Group Marketing Director for Lactalis UK & Ireland. "This is why we recommend retailers stock up on premium, hot eating, blue, selection packs, as well as hard and soft specialty cheeses in the run up to Christmas.

“To further capitalise on potential sales, we recommend introducing those popular cheese types even earlier in the year, as seasonal cheeses see a +34.8 per cent volume sales increase during the months of October and November. During this time of the year, shoppers are open to spending more money on premium cheese, with the average price per kg in cheese going from £6.47/kg during an average month to £7.07/kg during Christmas. In continental cheeses, the price moves from £7.61/kg to £8.26/kg. With this increase, the average cheese shopper will spend £12.86 during December vs £9.58 during an average month.”

“Our portfolio of premium cheeses includes Président Brie (the number-one selling branded brie*), Président Camembert (the number-two selling camembert*) and Président Emmental (the number-one selling branded Emmental SKU*). Président A La Carte Crispy Bake With Brie and Seriously Nuggets are also best-sellers, and represent the fastest growing and top contributing brands to absolute value and volume growth in hot-eating cheese.

“As we look ahead to the festive season, as a result of Christmas 2020 being cancelled, we expect the traditional sales peak for our premium and baking cheese products to be greater than ever,” she concluded.

Cheese types that see highest sales uplifts during December include:

Hot Eating cheeses: Baking Brie +862%, Breaded Baking Cheese +675% and Baking Camembert +300%

Blue Cheeses: Gorgonzola +210%, Danish Blue +150%, Blue Stilton +149% and Dolcelatte +47%

Hard Speciality: Wensleydale +126%, Extra Mature Cheddar +122%, Emmental +100% and Flavoured Territorials +51%

Selection Packs: +72%

Soft Speciality: Buffalo Mozzarella +52%, Goat’s Cheese +19% and Brie +10%

Cheeses with the biggest volume share growth during December:

Selection Packs +0.5pp

Extra Mature Cheddar +0.4pp

Mature Cheddar +0.5pp

Flavoured Territorials +0.5pp

Blue Stilton +0.2pp

Brie +0.2pp

“Our portfolio of premium cheeses from Président is a must-stock for retailers. The range includes Président Brie (the number one selling branded brie*), Président Camembert (the number two selling camembert*) and Président Emmental (the number one selling branded Emmental SKU*). Président A La Carte Crispy Bake With Brie and Seriously Nuggets are also best-sellers, and represent the fastest growing and top contributing brands to absolute value and volume growth in hot eating cheese.

“As we look ahead to the festive season, as a result of Christmas 2020 being cancelled, we expect the traditional sales peak for our premium and baking cheese products to be greater than ever.”

*during the months of October to December