Out of the UK comes a report lamenting the slumping sales of cheese during the past year. The cheese industry, like so many others amid the economic doldrums of the past couple of years, has come to recognize that one remedy is simple and straight talk with the consumer.
The category is beginning to do away with frivolous messages and instead focus consumer attention on product quality, and packaging redesigns are reflecting this more serious image.
Another approach that is working well is giving cheese brands a bit of a personality by putting the faces of farmers on their products. That provides brands with a human focal point.
Here’s another thought. In addition to focusing on better emotional connections between product and consumer, why not turn the category on its ear and present cheese in a new way? Cheese has tremendous potential appeal as a snack food, but it’s seldom packaged that way. Could a wider selection of packs that provide single-serve usage occasions work? Look no further than the soup aisle. Single-serve packaging has transformed soup from a traditional sit-down meal food into the realm of an anywhere, anytime snack food—thereby increasing usage occasions and sales.
