News and Articles

• Total cheese production declined 4.1% from the preceding month.
• Annual total cheese output remained 1.1% higher.
• Italian-type cheese production fell 6.8% sequentially.
• Mozzarella output declined 8.1% from the previous month.
• Buyers should assess individual cheese categories rather than total output.

US cheese production declined from the preceding month as output weakened across several widely used categories, including Italian-type cheese and mozzarella. Total production remained above the comparable prior-year level, showing that the short-term decline came against a larger annual production base rather than a broad contraction in dairy processing.

Total cheese output, excluding cottage cheese, reached 1.23 billion pounds. Production was 4.1% lower than the preceding month but 1.1% higher year over year. American-type cheese output totaled 485 million pounds, falling 2.6% sequentially while remaining 1.1% above the prior-year level.

Italian-type cheese recorded a larger monthly decline. Production totaled about 522 million pounds, down 6.8% from the preceding month and 0.3% from a year earlier. Mozzarella production fell 8.1% sequentially and 2.4% annually, making it one of the categories showing greater short-term supply reduction.

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Procurement teams in pizza manufacturing, foodservice and prepared foods should pay closer attention to individual varieties rather than total cheese supply. A modest increase in total annual production does not prevent tighter availability in mozzarella or another specific category when output moves differently across product groups.

Cheddar followed a milder pattern, with production down 2.4% from the preceding month but up 1% from the comparable prior-year period. Parmesan moved in the opposite direction on an annual basis, with output 12.2% higher. These differences give industrial buyers different sourcing conditions depending on recipe requirements.

Food manufacturers can manage short-term variation through contracted volumes, approved alternative plants and inventory targets based on actual consumption. Substitution between cheese varieties is often limited by flavour, moisture, melt performance and customer specifications, making supplier diversification more practical than recipe changes for many applications.

Buyers should also monitor dairy co-products because cheesemaking decisions are linked with whey markets and milk availability. Changes in processing economics can influence how milk is allocated across cheese, butter, milk powders and other dairy products.

The latest production figures point to adequate aggregate cheese output but uneven movement between categories. Procurement teams purchasing large mozzarella or Italian-type volumes should track plant availability and contracted coverage separately from the national cheese total.