Cheese Report 2026: 4 forces shaping the industry

The dairy industry sits apart from the more trend-led segments of the food and drink industry, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to the forces shaping consumer demand today. Speciality Food looks into the biggest drivers of change across the sector.

1. Consumer health evolves the market

Health is a key driver across all sectors of food and drink in 2026, with swathes of shoppers more conscious than ever of the nutritional value – and ingredients fighting against that – they are putting into their bodies.

Quality cheese is coming out as a winner in this as Brits recognise the value of a ‘less, but better’ mentality, with short ingredients lists (milk, rennet, salt) winning out against processed alternatives, plus the use of whole milk and cheese’s protein content winning fans.

There is also an understanding that quality equals flavour - with fewer additions to dilute the taste of the milk, a cheese’s true characteristics can shine through – meaning that the punchier the taste of a quality cheese, the less of it needs to be used.

Alongside this comes creativity from chefs which is inspiring shoppers, too; at Freemasons Arms in Wiswell, Lancashire, Doddington is being used in place of a hard Continental style to add a finishing oomph to dishes. Cottage cheese is a frontrunner too, with brands including Roddas and All Things Butter entering the category from elsewhere in the chiller aisle. Indeed, recent Worldpanel insights have highlighted that market spend on cottage cheese has risen 41.9% to £102.2 million.

“From the consumer perspective, the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss medications is a consideration, with 8.1% of UK adults now reporting they have tried weight-loss injections (IGD, May 2026),” explains Charlotte Forkes-Rees, retail and consumer insight analyst at AHDB. “This could impact cheese demand, either through lower volumes purchased or reduced participation in the category altogether. However, it has unlocked huge growth for cottage cheese and leaner/high protein cheese products.”

2. An appetite for natural

Provenance and short ingredients lists go hand in hand in the fine food sector, and cheese offers the ideal opportunity to bring these together. Retailers can paint a picture which will appeal to today’s shopper who is more conscious than ever of the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the food they’re eating.

Meet the Maker events or cheese tastings offer ample opportunity to tell the story of cheesemakers and the production of the cheese being enjoyed, but feeding customers’ desire for pure and natural shouldn’t stop there.

Quality milk forms the foundation of excellent cheese, and offers an opportunity to celebrate the grass, herbs and flora at the feet of the cows producing this valuable ingredient. Make a point of the minimal ingredients lists in the cheeses you sell and – within reason – add colour and detail to the image in their minds of where it was sourced from… Add images and information to your online marketing, and in-store POS if you have space. Trust and the modern perception of value is of vital importance here.

“Raw milk fits very naturally into the growing demand for wholesome, minimally processed foods,” says Jonny Crickmore, director of Fen Farm Dairy. “Like artisan cheese, it is only very lightly processed between the cow and the consumer, allowing it to retain its natural characteristics. It is a simple, whole food that many people choose because they value freshness, provenance and traditional production methods.”

“Customers increasingly want to know where their food comes from and who made it,” says Alan Kirby of Booths Supermarket. “That’s why we believe specialist cheese counters, backed by knowledgeable colleagues and strong relationships with artisan producers, are more important than ever.”

3. Modern affinage

Perry Wakeman, CEO and chief of cheese of Rennet & Rind and three-time winner of Affineur of the Year Award, shares his take on affinage for 2026. “You can be as adventurous as your understanding allows, and that last part matters. Affinage rewards curiosity but it punishes guesswork. The interesting work happens when you know the cheese well enough to know what it can take. Washing a rind, changing how something is wrapped, holding a cheese longer than the maker normally would, trying a technique on a base you would not expect. Some of my favourite results have come from treating a familiar cheese in an unfamiliar way and seeing where it goes.

“British affinage is young compared to France, and I mean that as a good thing. We are not weighed down by hundreds of years of ‘this is how it must be done’. There is genuine room to experiment, and more retailers and makers are starting to take maturing seriously as a craft in its own right rather than just storage. That is the real trend. Affinage is moving from being something that happens to cheese in transit to being a deliberate, skilled stage that people are proud to talk about.

“My advice to anyone getting into it is to be adventurous with your thinking but disciplined with your practice. Keep notes. Taste constantly. Be willing to lose a wheel or two learning something. The cheese will tell you what it wants if you pay attention.

“None of this works without the makers. We can mature a cheese beautifully, but we are always finishing something that began on a farm with someone who has poured years into getting their milk and their make right. Championing those independent British cheesemakers is the part of the job I care about most. If a piece like this sends a few more people to their local cheesemonger to ask what is good this week, then it has done its work.”

Read more of Perry’s affinage tips here.

4. Cheese pairing ideas

We all know that consumer palates – and expectations – are becoming more mature, colourful and adventurous than ever, so why stop at wine and chutney when it comes to celebrating the best of your cheese counter?

Foodservice can serve up all kinds of inspiration; street food was the birthplace of kimchi-enlivened cheese toasties (a punchy blend of tangy/spicy fermented cabbage and a rich and tongue-tingling Cheddar provides exactly the excitement shoppers are looking for in 2026), and chefs are ever-more adventurous when it comes to how they utilise fantastic cheese in their menus so lose the ‘us and them’ mindset and gather ideas wherever you are… Including social media. Wine is not the only drink on the pairing menu; the fermentation of beers, ciders and kombuchas mean they partner beautifully with all manner of cheeses, and don’t overlook the raft of non-alcoholic options lining your shelves. We love to serve ginger beer with a biting blue cheese.

To read more insights from The Cheese Report 2026, download our July/August issue for free here.