The wine market in India is set to grow to $274 million by 2026 as per the latest market reports. The demand for premium wine brands is increasing among consumers in India and there is also rising consumer preference for smooth, rare, and innovative flavours of wine. The rising demand for premium wine in recent years has led to an increase in the parallel launch of innovative products such as handcrafted or artisanal cheese.
Humans have enjoyed cheese and wine together since fermented foods were first developed some 10,000 years ago. But as generations got by and as new wine tastes were discovered, pairing with new varieties of cheese took an absolute new direction.
Artisan cheese maker, Parshva Kapadia, aka Cheeseman, Co-Creator & Head Cheese Master, Le Pondicherry Cheese, has been making cheese and exploring the market segment for the past seven years now. Before 2015, his cheese world was dominated by big brands like Amul, but a trip to France opened his eyes to the flavour of preservative free real cheese, the unbelievable varieties that existed. After trying a new cheese variety every other day and savouring more than 25 different types, over two months of his stay, Parshva started appreciating natural cheese and instantly an idea in him generated to hone the skill of cheesemaking in India.
Parshva then moved to Auroville in 2016 and started working at an artisanal production unit making different varieties of cheese; where he gathered all the basic knowledge about cheesemaking. “The market at that time was extremely niche with only countable artisan cheese makers in the country. Auroville cheese was already known amongst top end restaurants and resorts in Goa, Mumbai, and Delhi. The market would run high usually during festivities like Christmas and new year’s. Interestingly, post pandemic, Indian consumers began being health-conscious and started looking for alternative healthier ingredients. Dairy has always been a big part of Indian households and natural cheese slowly started getting accepted on platters, dinner parties and as gift hampers. Consumers began reaching out locally for artisanal cheese and the majority of the currently existing cheese brands in India were born then,” shares Parshva.
At present there are over 12 artisanal cheese production units around the country giving the Indian consumer wide varieties to choose from. You can get young or aged, sweet, or sharp, white, or yellow, and many other types of natural cheese these days. So much has evolved in the space of cheese over the last three years. Many want to learn more about the art of cheesemaking, this has also improved the market understanding and consumption of cheese, indicates Parshva.
Anuradha & Namrata, Founders of Käse, a Chennai-based artisanal cheese brand, believe that cheesemaking is in many ways like wine making. The terroir, they say, is a huge influence and that is what makes cheese of every place unique. The duo work with natural flora of the milk and claim that they do not use freeze dried cultures in their cheese making ingredients.
Commenting about the growing interest of consumers in artisan cheese, Anurada says, “There has been an enormous demand for cheese over the last few years, which is driven by consumer awareness. However, it’s predominantly in the processed cheese category and there are bigger players like Amul and Britannia. Off late there is an increase in the number of artisan cheese makers as well. To give a number, there were hardly 5 or 6 artisan brands in 2016 whereas today there are close to 30 artisan brands. However, artisan players are mostly localised and homegrown and cater to the local geography. There are 3 or 4 brands (including ours Kase cheese) which are shipping pan India. But this number is set to grow. If we go to a supermarket, we can find at least a couple of artisan or other local cheese brands.”
Sharing his view about the growing cheese industry, Harshit Juneja, Director at Dairy Craft India, says that the dairy industry has seen a massive shift in India from immense consumption of milk to increased consumption of Value Added Dairy Products (VADP). VADPs are considered to be high in nutrients, easy to consume, and a good fit in most dishes. And, adoption of western trends and cuisines, a growing population in the age group of 20-40 years, and increased awareness of various varieties of cheeses are some of the common reasons for the increasing demand.
“Over the years, with a portion of consumers focussing on health, we are also seeing increased acceptance and adoption of natural, fresh variants of cheese over processed variants. Feta cheese, Natural cream cheese, Mascarpone cheese, and fresh Buffalo Mozzarella/Bocconcini cheese have seen increased acceptance over the last few years. Although fresh cheeses usually have a lower shelf life, they do not contain any preservatives that are commonly used in the processed variants. The growing health-conscious population savour preservative-free cheese and prefer their children to consume natural cheese,” explains Harshit.
In Anuradha’s view, artisan cheesemaking is still a very nascent, niche category. “It has seen signs of growth only over the past five years, mostly because of a growing segment of millennials. “We as a brand are targeting this audience through non-traditional ways and engaging in a more personal way through social media and other personalised avenues like cheese pairing events, tasting events, cheese platters, etc.”
Although Indians have caught the craze in artisan cheese, a lot of awareness is required to boost its popularity. “Awareness about the benefits of cheese had to be developed. We witnessed the growth in consumers’ mindset, perspective, and palette by educating them with workshops and giving them experiential tasting of cheese in farmers markets. Along with this, a rise in artisanal cheese brands around the country has definitely played a major role in increasing the demand for natural cheese all around India,” says Anuradha.
Similarly, Parshva envisions his company, Le Pondicherry Cheese, to tip the scale from processed cheese over to artisanal cheese in the next five years. “To achieve this, we are not only focusing on wider market size but rather educating and spreading awareness about the health benefits, quality, and production authenticity of artisanal cheese, which is helping us reach our goals. We believe in a collaborative and transparent approach. Always open for factory visits, sharing cheesemaking experience, conducting workshops, working with other gourmet food brands to pair the cheese with. All these practices have contributed to paving our way into the big Indian cheese market,” admits Parshva.
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