Given the current obsession with plant-based cooking, cheese might seem like a food in decline.
However, according to current data from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, curd consumption has increased 19 percent in the last decade. It is the primary driving force behind per capita dairy consumption. According to the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association in Madison, Wis., sales in the dairy case grew $7 billion from the previous year to $61 billion.
A four-cheese Mexican blend was the second-best-selling overall product at Kroger Co. in 2020. (Soft drinks with no calories came in first.)
Even though it has been around since the 1500s, a cherished Indian staple is now making inroads in the United States. The hero component of the vegetarian meal “saag paneer” is paneer, a hard cheese.
The groundswell can be attributed to a number of factors. Paneer is strong in protein and fat, making it a popular choice for individuals following the keto diet, which had a market value of $9.5 billion in 2019. (Ketogenic diets are most popular in the United States.) It also preserves its shape when cooked due to its high melting point, making it an ideal contender for center-of-the-plate vegetarian recipes.
Paneer, on the other hand, is clean-label, which means it’s manufactured with only the most basic ingredients.
There’s also a resurgence of gastronomic interest in the country of origin. On Google Trends, searches for “Indian restaurants near me” increased by 350% last year. The stock “Paneer Maker” increased by 140 percent.
“People are more interested in learning how to prepare Indian cuisine at home,” says Joey Wells, global senior principal for product development at Whole Foods Market Inc. “We continue to see growth in the category overall,” he says of paneer sales.
Paneer was pushed by craftsmen on the East and West coasts who were dissatisfied with the options available on American store shelves.
Unapologetic Foods chef Chintan Pandya’s excellent version has elevated the cheese’s prominence in New York City. “The greater the fat, the better the paneer,” says Pandya, who makes his light and incomprehensibly pillowy product with a blend of milk and cream from a dairy upstate. It took him over a year to come up with a working version. (Delays were caused by supply chain concerns.) It’s now a major seller at Dhamaka on the Lower East Side, where it’s grilled and sprinkled with garam masala.
“A lot of people want to know what makes us unique,” Pandya says. It’s just that we put effort and resources into it. In fact, he devotes so much time to it that the expense is comparable to what he spends on lamb and goat.
Chefs from all throughout the United States have been inspired as well. As in-store tastings and other events return, Donna Berry, a former Kraft Heinz Co. scientist who is now a dairy industry consultant, believes paneer sales in America will continue to rise along with awareness. “Products like paneer keep people interested in dairy,” she explains. “To compete with plant-based inventors, cheesemakers have stepped up their game.”