23 May 2007, 13:54 PM
  • Waitrose is reported strong growth in sheep's milk cheese over the last year, confirming that shoppers are not enticed to try new things.

Sales of cow’s milk cheese, such as traditional farmhouse Cheddar is still seeing a healthy sales growth of five percent year-on-year. But goat’s cheese sales are rising more rapidly with sales up 15% year on year. However, the biggest increase is sheep’s cheese, which is up by 21%.

Some of the key products attracting attention at present include Spanish Manchego, Roquefort, Ossau Iraty and Feta sheep’s cheese.

Waitrose cheese buyer, Chris Dawson, said, “Customers are becoming more and more adventurous and are continually experimenting with new tastes and flavours when it comes to cheese. A few years ago they hesitated about goat’s cheese – but now that has become mainstream, and sheep’s cheese is certainly heading in the same direction.

“This trend has been fuelled by the popularity of cheeses that people will have sampled on holiday such as Feta from Greece and Manchego from Spain. But sheep’s cheese is also becoming an increasingly popular alternative for those who are intolerant to cow’s milk.” Sheep milk boasts a wide number of health benefits when consumed as part of a healthy diet and is a rich source of calcium, phosphorous and zinc, as well as B group vitamins.