Low expectations for cheese market in Malaysia

The cheese market in Malaysia remained lacklustre in 2016. Consultancy Euromonitor says many imported brands focus only on high-end supermarkets as distribution channels, such as Cold Storage, Sam Groceria and Presto Grocers. On the other hand, dual-breadwinner families prefer to dine out more than cook at home, which makes cheese a rarity in homes.

Mondelez is the leading player in cheese for Malaysia in 2016, accounting for a 46% retail value share. The company offers a wide range of brands including Kraft Singles, Philadelphia, Kraft Cheese Spread and Kraft. These brands are widely distributed, in particularly through hypermarkets and supermarkets, and have many loyal consumers due to their affordable prices, quality and flavour.

Euromonitor does not see cheese taking off in Malaysia as consumers cook at home relatively rarely, making it unlikely to become a common recipe ingredient. The research firm also notes that domestic distributors are not educating consumers on incorporating cheese into their meals.  

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Buy the Euromonitor Dairy in Malaysia report (December 2016)

Cheese still a luxury item in Kazakhstan

In 2016, the key issues in the cheese industry in Kazakhstan were product quality and the presence of counterfeit products, says Euromonitor.

Relatively few have tasted cheese in Kazakhstan, the research firm said. The highest consumption of cheese was observed in large urban areas like Astana and Almaty, where consumers tend to have the highest purchasing power. Unscrupulous manufacturers have offered products that resemble cheese but were made of vegetable oil, which passed muster with uninformed local consumers. 

Gadyachsyr led the pack in 2016 with a 14% share of retail value sales. Ukrainian-manufactured cheeses are preferred however because of their perceived better taste and quality.

Over the forecast period, Kazakhstan is expected to see a more stable economic situation and increased purchasing power, so expenditure on cheese is expected to grow. 

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Cheese becomes popular in Indonesia

More Indonesian families, particularly in the big cities, are expected to start using cheese as a main ingredient in their meals. According to research firm Euromonitor, more consumers have started to prepare Western foods which use cheese as an ingredient by themselves at home. These include pizzas, pasta dishes, cakes, pastries and toast. Cheese has become very popular to serve with white bread as a substitute for chocolate sprinkles, jam or honey.

An increasing number of foodservice outlets and rising number of new menus using cheese by existing foodservice outlets may also prompt faster volume growth of food-service sales of cheese in the forecast period, Euromonitor said.

Kraft was named as the leading cheese brand in Indonesia in 2016, with Kraft Ultrajaya Indonesia PT commanding a 61% share of value sales. The company’s dominant position is attributed to its early entry into the Indonesian cheese market, a wide variety of other processed cheese products and aggressive marketing, using both television advertisements and below-the-line activities.

Interested?

Read the executive summary for the Euromonitor Dairy in Indonesia report, dated December 2016

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about popular brands in Indonesia

Azerbaijan cheese lovers going domestic in 2016

Currency devaluation led to a significant price jump for imported cheese in Azerbaijan in 2016, resulting in consumers moving to value-for-money domestic brands instead, says Euromonitor in its Dairy in Azerbaijan report.

Milk-Pro MMC led in the cheese category in 2016, accounting for 13% of value sales.

Over the forecast period (2016 to 2021) consumers of cheese are expected to switch from unpackaged to packaged products. The share of imported premium cheese is expected to grow, with interest in new flavours.
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Cheese options grew for Iran in 2016

More sophisticated products were offered to Irani consumers in 2016, contributing significantly to growth in the cheese category, says Euromonitor in its Dairy in Iran report. One type of cheese had previously been available, a soft cheese called Iranian UF cheese; key manufacturers diversified and offered cream cheese, processed cheese and other options, which helped the whole category to grow at a healthy rate.

Pegah Dairy was the lead manufacturer in cheese in 2016 with a 29% share of retail value sales, Euromonitor said. The state-owned company has several factories across the country, including in Pegah Khorasan, Pegah Gilan and other areas, which supply their territories with fresh dairy products. Pegah Dairy maintains the popular Pegah Shabnam brand of cheese, a simple soft cheese packaged in saltwater. The company has a very strong distribution network which guarantees its presence even in remote areas and was able to strengthen its position in 2016 with strong marketing campaigns in 2015 and 2016.

According to Euromonitor, strong demand from Iranians for packaged cheese will likely continue to boost retail sales of cheese over the forecast period. As in the review period, sales are set to be driven by the fact that cheese is widely consumed in Iran and general demand for sophisticated processed cheese is still growing. Overall, sales are expected to record steady annual rises with CAGRs of 1% in retail volume and 2% in value terms at constant 2016 prices over the forecast period (2016 to 2021), both of which are improvements over the equivalent performances of the review period (2011 to 2016).

In contrast, drinking milk product players have been consolidating. Demand has continued to decline, especially in shelf-stable category, as many young shoppers consider this type of milk unhealthy option and believe that it contains preservatives.

Pegah Dairy is also the leader in drinking milk products, with a retail value share of 21% in 2016, slightly lower than in 2015. Pegah Dairy has the most productive production line amongst manufacturers in the popular fresh milk category. Its distribution network has also helped its lead position. It also has one of the most visible advertising campaigns in stores.

PROSPECTS

Sales of drinking milk products as a whole are expected to grow due to increased awareness and improvements in the Iranian economy. Overall, drinking milk products is expected to register a value CAGR of 9% at constant 2016 prices over the forecast period (2016 to 2021), some five percentage points higher than the equivalent figure from the review period (2011 to 2016).

Interested?

Buy the Euromonitor Dairy in Iran report