Dairy
BUSINESS
TRENDS IN FORMULATING, PROCESSING, PACKAGING & CONSUMPTION OF DAIRY PRODUCTS
Cheese makers innovate as market impacted by consumer taste changes amid Covid-19 pandemic
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By Catherine Wanjiku
here is nothing overt about cheese, from its texture, flavour, form, to even how it came to being. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, a trader filled a bag made from a sheep stomach with milk before embarking on a long journey. After the ride, he discovered the motion, combined with the heat and the enzymes in his bag, separated the curds and whey in the milk, creating cheese for the very first time. FOODBUSINESSAFRICA.COM
Since that mythic ride, humans have gone on to create more than 2,000 kinds of cheese, each with its own distinct organoleptic properties that differ greatly. This is due to the fact that the milk used to make cheese is subjected to varied handling and processing methods. For instance, extra-hard cheeses, such as Parmesan and Romano, are produced from very hard curds. These cheeses are low in moisture, produced from partially skimmed milk, and are matured slowly over 1–2 years by MARCH/APRIL2022 | FOOD BUSINESS AFRICA
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