WCMA: Cheddar Boom Hits in a Volatile Year
May 12, 2025 | 2 min to read
Cheddapalooza signifies a booming production of cheddar and American-style cheeses in the U.S., driven by new facilities despite challenges like tariffs and milk production fluctuations. Retail demand shows promise, with cheddar volume sales increasing by 1.5% and dollar sales up 2.9% from February 2024 to 2025. However, dairy export data reveals mixed results; while cheese sales abroad remain positive, exports of nonfat dry milk and whey proteins have sharply declined.
Cheddapalooza is here.
The upswell of cheddar and American styles production in the United States predicted in this column three years ago is in full swing. But far from being a sole challenge to the dairy industry, this sharp increase in cheese production at new and renovated facilities joins a host of converging factors – oscillating tariffs, uneven milk production, new federal order base prices, and the potential for an economic downturn—that make 2025 a challenging year for dairy processors.
Domestic Sales
Let’s start with retail demand. Cheddar cheese at retail is in positive territory looking at the most recent sales data: February 2025 vs. February 2024. Cheddar volume sales are up 1.5 percent using “gold-standard” retail scanner data. Cheddar dollar sales are up 2.9 percent in that time frame. Monterey Jack is flat – down 0.1 percent in volume in the same February to February comparison.
Export Sales
Demand outside the U.S. is the wilder card. The latest dairy export data from U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) captures February 2025 activity and cheese sales abroad remained positive, while nonfat dry milk/skim milk powders and whey protein exports declined sharply.
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