Latest TNS data shows that 375,424 tonnes of cheese were sold in the 52 week period ending 13 July 08, up by 1.1% on the previous year, equivalent to 4,085 tonnes. Sales of loose cheese continue to fall, falling 1.5%, to 25,245 tonnes, whereas sales of pre-packed cheese grew by 1.3% to 350,179 tonnes; giving a split of cheese sold loose and pre-packed of 6.7% to 93.3%.  

Cheese prices have increased year on year, up around 8.8%, the equivalent of 46p/kg. Loose cheese is on average 19.8% more expensive than prepacked cheese, with loose cheese at £6.65/kg and prepacked cheese at £5.55/kg.

52-WEEK DATA FOR WEEK ENDING 13 JULY 2008
	Total	Yr/Yr %	Loose	Yr/Yr %	Pre packed	Yr/Yr %
Spend (£000s)	2,112,879	10.1	168,000	5.8	1,944,879	10.4
Volume (Tonnes)	375,424	1.1	25,245	-1.5	350,179	1.3
Average Price (£/Kg)	5.63	8.8	6.65	7.5	5.55	9.0

Total cheddar* volumes stand at 202,065 tonnes for the 52 weeks ending 13 July 2008. This is an increase of 3,962 tonnes (2.0%) compared to the previous year.

The trend of switching to more mature cheddar varieties seemed to have declined as sales of mature cheddar have fallen 3.6%, while medium and mild cheddar sales have also fallen. However, total cheddar sales have increased suggesting that there has been a move from mild, medium and mature cheddar to other cheddar types, for example farmhouse, vintage, extra mature and full flavour.

Sales of mild cheddar have fallen 0.5% equivalent to 234 tonnes to 46,542 tonnes in the 52 weeks ending 13 July 2008. Medium cheddar sales have fallen further than mild cheddar, falling 1.6% to 17,968 tonnes, 292 tonnes lower than the same period last year. Mature cheddar has seen the largest percentage fall in sales of 3.6%, the equivalent to a fall of 2,911 tonnes. Sales of mature cheddar now stand at 77,953 tonnes for the 52 weeks ending 13 July 2008.

Sales of cheddar may in part have been affected by the significant increase in the average price of cheddar, with the price increasing on average 11.4% (equivalent to 57p/kg) in the year to 13 July 2008 to reach £5.59/kg. Mild cheddar has seen the largest rise increasing by an average of 71p/kg (18.4%) to average at £4.49/kg. Medium cheddar has increased 10.2% to £5.73/kg while mature cheddar has increased 11.3% - 60p/kg to £5.89/kg. This means the premium for mature cheddar over medium cheddar is just 16p/kg.

52-WEEK DATA FOR WEEK ENDING 13 JULY 2008
CHEDDAR	TOTAL*	Yr/Yr %	Mild	Yr/Yr %	Medium	Yr/Yr %	Mature	Yr/Yr %
Spend (£000s)	1,130,026	13.7	213,517	17.9	102,887	8.4	458,772	7.3
Volume (Tonnes)	202,065	2.0	46,542	-0.5	17,968	-1.6	77,953	-3.6
Average Price (£/Kg)	5.59	11.4	4.59	18.4	5.73	10.2	5.89	11.3

* Please note - Total refers to all categories of cheddar. In addition to Mild, Medium and Mature; the Cheddar category includes: Extra Mature, Farmhouse, Full Flavour, Vintage and Other cheddar types.

Other cheese types have all shown an increase in the volume sold, with the exception of processed cheese which has seen volume sales fall 4.6% (1,839 tonnes) to 38,149 tonnes. Territorial cheeses have seen a small increase of 79 tonnes - 0.2% to reach 39,558 for the 52 weeks ending 13 July 2008. The fall in sales of territorial cheese may in part be due to the rise in the average cost by 11.0% this is the equivalent of 55p/kg, with territorial cheese now averaging at £5.53/kg.

Soft cheese sales have seen growth of 3.0% to 22,178 tonnes, while the price of soft cheese has risen by 3.7% - 20p/kg to average at £5.74/kg. Despite the average price of processed cheese only increasing 1.9% to £5.70/kg this did not prevent sales from falling 4.6%.

52-WEEK DATA FOR WEEK ENDING 13 JULY 2008
OTHER CHEESE TYPES	Territorial**	Yr/Yr %	Soft Cheeses	Yr/Yr %	Processed	Yr/Yr %
Spend (£000s)	218,656	11.3	127,352	6.8	217,330	-2.8
Volume (Tonnes)	39,558	0.2	22,178	3.0	38,149	-4.6
Average Price (£/Kg)	5.53	11.0	5.74	3.7	5.70	1.9

** Please note, TNS definition of Territorial cheese includes 'other' British hard cheese which includes reduced-fat varieties of cheddar-type cheeses.

Sales of branded cheddar continue to show increases on the previous year, with sales up by 5,758 tonnes (8.4%), to 74,300 tonnes, this is despite the average price increasing by 45p/kg (8.2%). Standard supermarket label cheddar and value supermarket label cheddar both saw sales fall, 1.4% and 0.5% respectively. Sales of standard supermarket label cheddar now stand at 71,281 tonnes while value supermarket label cheddar sales stand at 41,013 tonnes. Sales of supermarket cheddars are likely to have fallen due to significant price increases of 12.1% (62p/kg) for standard supermarket cheddar and 19.6% (74p/kg) for value supermarket cheddar. Branded cheddar is often on promotion which may explain why the increase in cost is not as high as supermarket label cheddar, and with branded cheddar at a premium of just 14p/kg above standard supermarket label cheddar, consumers may have traded up to branded cheddar.

52-WEEK DATA FOR WEEK ENDING 13 JULY 2008
Branded/ Labeled CHEDDAR	Branded CHEDDAR	Yr/Yr %	Standard Supermarket Label CHEDDAR	Yr/Yr %	Value Supermarket Label CHEDDAR	Yr/Yr %
Spend (£000s)	439,270	17.2	411,569	10.6	185,355	18.9
Volume (Tonnes)	74,300	8.4	71,281	-1.4	41,013	-0.5
Average Price (£/Kg)	5.91	8.2	5.77	12.1	4.52	19.6

* Note: TNS re-weighted their data in March 2006, therefore a degree of caution should be taken when comparing figures reported after March 2006 with those reported prior to this re-weighting.