Cottage cheese remains a superstar

“Ain’t no stopping us now. We’re on the move.” Turn on a radio and you may still hear that McFadden & Whitehead 1979 disco song. Those lyrics well define cottage cheese: There is currently no stopping its growth.

Sales of the cultured dairy product reached $1.75 billion in dollar sales for the 52-week period ending Feb. 23, an 18% year-over-year (YoY) increase, according to Chicago-based market research firm Circana. Unit sales growth was a bit slower, but still produced a “not-too-shabby” YoY improvement of 13% to 558 million. Private label led the way with $612 million in dollar sales, a YoY gain of 14%, while unit sales climbed 6% YoY to 210 million.

As strong as those private-label sales are, it’s not the story when it comes to cottage cheese sales. Several companies had strong 52-week periods ending Feb. 23, including Daisy Brand and Good Culture. Let’s start with No. 2 seller Daisy, whose cottage cheese dollar sales zoomed higher by 32% YoY to $352 million. The Dallas-based company’s unit sales rose a similarly impressive 28% YoY to 114 million.

No. 4 seller Good Culture’s dollar sales jumped an impressive 75% to $187 million. The Irvine, Calif.-based company’s unit sales picked up 55% YoY to 54 million, Circana reports.

Looking at other cultured dairy subcategories Circana tracks, we can report an excellent year across the board. Cream cheese-soft, cream cheese-brick, cream cheese-whipped, cream cheese all other forms and sour cream all produced YoY dollar sales gains, with all but one of those subcategories producing YoY unit sales gains as well.

The subcategory with those mixed results belongs to cream cheese-soft, whose dollar sales increased by 0.3% YoY to $1.3 billion, but unit sales declined by 3% YoY to 354 million. Despite a 2% decline YoY in both dollar sales and unit sales, Pittsburgh-based Kraft Heinz is the No. 1 seller in the category, notching sales of $794 million and 147 million, respectively.

One big standout in cream cheese-soft for the period ending Feb. 23 was Tillamook. The Tillamook, Ore.-based company’s dollar sales rose 24% YoY to $39 million, pairing nicely with a 25% unit sales gain to 11 million.

Shifting to the cream cheese-brick subcategory, dollar sales improved by 6% YoY to $1.3 billion, with unit sales picking up 1% to 357 million, Circana reveals. Kraft Heinz, the No. 1 seller in this subcategory, saw increased dollar sales of 2% to $877 million, while unit sales picked up 1% to $209 million. But the star in this subcategory is again Tillamook, whose dollar sales jumped by 752% YoY to nearly $6 million, while unit sales for the No. 3 seller in the cream cheese-brick subcategory jumped by 768% YoY to 1.7 million, Circana data reports.

Cream cheese-whipped also had a strong year, with overall dollar sales rising by 5% YoY to more than $360 million, as well as a 4% YoY unit sales gain to 94 million. Kraft Heinz led the way once again, with dollar sales picking up 4% YoY to $213 million, and unit sales improving by 3% YoY to 43 million. Making big strides in the 52-week period ending Feb. 23 was Dutch Farms. The Chicago-based company enjoyed both dollar sales and unit sales YoY growth of 21% to $210,165 and 65,931, respectively.

Taking a glance at the cream cheese-all other forms subcategory, overall dollar sales gained 4% to $35 million, while unit sales increased a strong 10% YoY to nearly 1.6 million. Schreiber Foods led the way, in terms of sales, in this subcategory. The Green Bay, Wis.-based company’s dollar sales advanced by 2% YoY to nearly $30 million, with flat unit sales growth of 400,558, Circana reports. Although on a smaller sales basis, we highlight Grassland Dairy Products for incredible YoY growth. The Greenwood, Wis.-based company, the No. 7 seller in the cream cheese-all other forms subcategory, enjoyed dollar sales growth of 9,928% YoY to $167,377, with unit sales sporting an even more impressive YoY increase of 10,775% to 73,186.

Lastly, the sour cream subcategory’s year ending Feb. 23 featured a unit sales gain of 5% YoY to $1.87 billion. Unit sales rose by 2% YoY to 703 million. Daisy Brand was by far the No. 1 seller in this subcategory, more than doubling private-label sales. Daisy’s sour cream dollar sales reached $1.1 billion, a YoY increase of 7%. Its unit sales improved by 5% YoY to 375 million. Another standout in sour cream subcategory was No. 5 seller Marquez Brothers International. The San Jose, Calif.-based company’s dollar sales rose 20% YoY to $15 million, while unit sales rose a similar 14% YoY to 3.5 million. DF