The Nikkei Marketing Journal (5 March) reports that last year, Japan’s consumption of cheese grew 6%, making it the third straight year of increased demand.
According to data supplied by the US Department of Agriculture, the 320,000 tonnes consumed by Japan represents a 13% increase from five years earlier. Japanese statistics for 2016 show that daily per capita consumption of cheese had reached 6.5g, a rise of about 50% from 1996.
While Japanese people tend to favour consuming their Camembert accompanied by wine or in the form of party titbits, in recent years cheese, with its high protein and low levels of carbohydrates, has also been popularised as a food for dieters. At the same time, more firms have been pushing it as a dessert food: from last autumn, Megmilk Snow Brand Co., Ltd. launched cheese items flavoured with apple or berries.
The article also points out that recipes for the use of cheese have been rapidly increasing on social networks. A user hashtag #chiizutakkarubi focusing on Korean-style dishes prepared with cheese currently boasts 160,000 followers a day.
Deli-style items and sandwiches featuring cheese have also reportedly been selling well at FamilyMart Co., Ltd. and Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. convenience store chains.
The growing demand for cheese (as well as butter) is occurring in the face of falling production of raw milk products, as more of Japan’s family-owned dairy farms have been shutting down due to the ageing of the farm household population. As a result, costs for raw materials this year are projected to increase from ¥4 to ¥5 yen per kilogram of raw milk.