The whey and milk ingredients BLOG

Cheeses

LACTALIS Group’s expertise as the leading cheese producer in the world enables LACTALIS Ingredients to offer top solutions to cheese manufacturers. We provide a full range of dairy ingredients for different alternative cheese formulations, like recombined cheese, processed cheese and analogue cheese.

Market overview

Alternative cheese is a dynamic market. This is the case for the processed cheese market, but more particularly for analogue cheese. This suggests a promising future for cheese applications. Such growth can be explained by different elements, but the central reason is insufficient supplies of local fresh milk in developing countries. That is why Asia and Middle East are the most dynamic zones; they need alternatives to produce cheese.

Other elements driving market evolution include:

Westernisation of dietary lifestyle: people are eating more and more cheese, which makes processed cheese a dynamic market. Moreover, populations are changing their habits by eating increased amounts of pizza and ready meals. For this application, analogue cheese is an economical alternative to natural cheese.
Consumer health concerns. Alternative cheeses can address these concerns by having lower cholesterol levels than traditional cheeses. However, consumers looking for healthier recipes will also look for more natural products.

Our range for processed cheese

LACTALIS Ingredients offers a large scale of dairy solutions suitable for many different processes: from low temperature process and pasteurised conditions to UHT process. Our manufacturers seek recipe cost optimisation, flavour enhancement and texture improvement. We have all the dairy ingredients to provide optimal solutions for them, such as:

Rennet casein, with high protein and calcium contents, to develop firmness and shredding properties while preserving a maximum of elasticity
Acid casein to enhance spreadability with its excellent water binding characteristics
Skimmed milk powder to help preserve a constant texture while bringing a balanced milky taste
Butter to develop both taste and creaminess with a soft texture
Sweet whey powder helps reduce cost and gives a pleasant taste to the final product
Our natural cheese range (Cheddar, Mozzarella, Emmental) to enhance cheese flavour.

Our range for analogue cheese

In response to the growing demand for pizza in emerging markets, analogue cheeses are a cost-effective alternative to traditional cheese. Its key benefit is to preserve the same properties while optimising costs. Ingredients used in imitation cheeses must therefore allow a short hydration time to increase productivity. When analogue cheeses are meant to be used on pizza they must give similar properties to mozzarella: a maximum stretch, a homogeneous melting, and a limited browning.

Here are some of our solutions to help you achieve these requirements:

Rennet casein to help stretch improvement. More specifically, we can provide premium casein for longer stretch, especially created for pizza.
Sweet whey powders and whey permeate to obtain nice colouring and cost reduction.

Our range for recombined cheese

In some regions of the world, there are insufficient supplies of high-quality local fresh milk, which affects cheese production.

LACTALIS Ingredients provides an excellent solution to this dilemma by offering a non-standardised skimmed milk powder with specific properties for cheese making. Linked to its high protein content and consequently to its high casein content, the lactose is lower than in standardised milk powder. Moreover, this product undergoes ultra-low heat treatment, drastically limiting protein denaturation and ensuring better functional properties. Thanks to this skimmed milk powder, manufacturers can standardise production by recombining milk to 100 % or less, consequently improving productivity and yield. For these reasons, recombined cheese is the best solution for manufacturers seeking cost reduction and regular product quality on a long-term basis.