Market research firm IBISWorld has predicted continued and sustainable growth in Australia’s cheese manufacturing industry.
“Growth will be mainly driven by a forecast economic recovery, stable dairy product prices and resurgence in demand from the developing world,” said Ryan Lin, an analyst at IBISWorld.
The last five years have seen “unprecedented commodity price volatility”, according to IBISWorld. Global dairy prices were pushed up in 2007-08 by drought and increased demand from south Asia, then this was reversed by the global financial crisis.
Industry revenue has crept up at an annualised rate of 0.4 per cent for the last five years. IBISWorld predicts that packaging innovations “in the form of functional, gourmet and health-based cheese products” will get consumers’ attention, and cheese tastes will become increasingly driven by health and premiumisation trends.
Australian cheese exporters have been seeing boosted demand from China, and the US Department of Agriculture recently predicted that global demand for dairy would be driven up.