Understanding your industry isn’t just about where it stands today – it’s about knowing where it’s been and where it’s headed. What does the future of your market look like? And what innovations are driving those trends? Find out with Mintel’s 360° bundle deal, including:
Mintel’s report bundle ensures the best value for you, providing an extensive overview of your market at an exclusive price. Purchase two reports to save 20% or three to save 30% on your total order.
Reports can also be purchased individually, simply make your selection before you add to basket.
Following a few years of falling volume sales, sales in the UK Cheese market rebounded in 2024. Modest growth is expected going forward, however the healthiness of cheese is a growing concern for consumers.
The income squeeze and rapidly rising prices in the category took their toll on cheese in 2022 and 2023, with volume sales falling. Improvements to consumer confidence early in the year and falling prices propelled a rebound in volume sales this year, but saw value growth slow sharply.
Health concerns see over a third of users limit their cheese intake. Health is expected to become more front of mind for consumers once household incomes regain momentum. This dials up the need for brands to be seen to support this goal, making better-for-you NPD and driving awareness of their products’ intrinsic strengths increasingly pertinent. Should this also fuel more focus on UPFs, the fact that only half of adults see cheese as a good choice for avoiding these stands to pose a challenge.
The strong image of cheese as making a big difference to a dish is a powerful one for brands to tap into, particularly while savvy habits are expected to endure and home cooking remains popular. While versatility in meal pairings was a key theme recent advertising, there remains untapped potential to leverage this at the point of sale, both in and beyond the cheese aisle.
This report examines the UK retail market for cheese. Mintel’s definition includes products sold through the retail channel and direct to consumers including:
The market size includes sales of cottage cheese; however, this is excluded from all other parts of the Report as it falls under the curd and quark category. Sales via catering or foodservice establishments are excluded, although references and comparisons to these sectors may be made where relevant.
This report was written by Sam Fryers. Upon graduating with a BSc degree in Business Studies, Sam joined Mintel in October 2023, building upon prior experience gained during his placement year in a consumer insights role. Sam is part of the research team in Belfast, where he contributes to the production of Mintel’s reports.
Volumes rebounded in 2024 as prices fell. The image of cheese in elevating meals holds ongoing potential, while health and sustainability concerns pose a threat.
Sam Fryers
Research Analyst
Mintel is the world’s leading market intelligence agency. We show you how consumers think today and tomorrow. As a trusted partner to industry leaders, we deliver game-changing insights to businesses across the globe, fuelling their marketing and innovation strategies that will shape the future.
Access high-quality market research with every purchase of Mintel’s consumer reports. Here’s what else is included in your report purchase:
From consumer reports to customised growth strategies. We have an option to suit your business requirements.
Find out more£ 495
Butter & Yellow fats - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2023. This market covers all butter,...
Find out more£ 2,195
The market was hard hit in 2022 and 2023 by the combination of the pressures on household budgets and double-digit price rises in the category. Easing inflation and...
Find out more£ 495
Yoghurt - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2023. This report covers all drinking/cultured and spoonable yoghurts...
Find out more£ 495
Yoghurt - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2024. This report covers all drinking/cultured and spoonable yoghurts...
Find out more£ 495
Cheese - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2023. This market covers total hard/extra hard, semi-hard, soft,...
Find out more£ 495
Cheese - UK by Mintel Market Sizes provides you with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2023. This market covers total hard/extra hard, semi-hard, soft,...
Find out more
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.
As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.
We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.
Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.
When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.
The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.
We’ve found it so useful working more closely with Mintel. They helped support our recent flagship event for our top suppliers by providing a really unique viewpoint on the future of online retailing.
Nick Carroll from their Retail Team was also an excellent panelist, sharing useful and actionable consumer insights. We definitely look forward to working with Mintel again on future projects.
There is no question that Mintel is the go-to resource for the best quality market research, but I did not think it was an affordable option for Abacus Marketing to consider. As a small marketing agency, we only work with a few new clients each year.
However, we have a very high-end consultative approach to our work, so we really do need a partner like Mintel to provide the big agency experience we are always aiming to deliver. Our clients come from an incredibly diverse range of industry sectors, so we obviously need access to market research reports from a very wide spectrum of marketplaces – and that is precisely what we got.
From consumer reports to customised growth strategies. We have an option to suit your business requirements.
Find out more
