The Indian Cheese Industry: Overview

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Except for the popular Indian variety of cottage cheese-Paneer, India is not traditionally a 'cheese nation'. Why then are we doing this report on the Cheese Industry in India? The reason is this - with the growing saturation of cheese consumption in the West and encouraging successes in other 'non-cheese' Asian countries like Japan and China; overseas cheese producers are eyeing the Indian market for its huge promise.

The organised cheese industry in India is at best in its nascent stage, accounting for under 1% of total dairy production and largely limited to urban consumption. Though cheese was first marketed under the brand name 'Amul', from the popular Amul butter stable in the late 1970s, it attained an identity of its own only as late as 1990s.

The organized cheese industry in the country as of 2006, is valued at Rs 250 crore (US$ 50 million), with a volume in excess of 8000 tonnes. The industry growth rate is estimated at about 10%-12% per year in terms of volume and 16%-17% per year in value terms. Current household cheese penetration is 5%, with about 50% of consumption being limited to cities. Mumbai and Delhi together capture half of the cheese market. Within cheese products, around 60% of the market is dominated by processed cheese, 30% by cheese spreads and the remaining 10% by flavoured and specialty cheese.

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