Active Culture Appeal: How Cottage Cheese Is Keeping Its Cool

How did cottage cheese go from grandma grub to a trendy ingredient?

The popularity of the high-protein, low-sugar, probiotic soft dairy cheese has been on the rise since spring 2023, according to Good Culture founder and CEO Jesse Merrill. But now over a year later, the ingredient is still trending upward, finding its way into product formulations and potentially signaling that its new widespread appeal won’t be just another flash in the pan.

According to SPINS, between 2022 and 2023 – also known as the era of peak, post-pandemic inflation – cottage cheese sales grew 10% y/y but saw units drop 1.9% indicating that the majority of the sales growth was driven by price increases. However, from June 2023 to June 2024, the category has seen sales rise 19% while unit sales ticked up right alongside – increasing 14.9%.

“More units are being sold, so the sales increase is partially due to people buying more cottage cheese,” stated Evonne Chan, senior market insights analyst at SPINS.

It all started on social media with a viral cottage cheese-based ice cream recipe, but unlike the lifespan of a TikTok trend (often only marginally longer than the videos themselves), this trend seems to have legs. Much of that stickiness may be due to its alignment with current consumer priorities: High protein, low sugar, active cultures and simple ingredients. How are brands at the epicenter of cottage cheese’s glory working to keep it around?

For starters, they are churning out content, specifically new cottage cheese-based recipes, left and right. Merrill said when the ice cream recipe featuring Good Culture took off in 2023, the brand immediately saw an “outsized boost” on its social media pages in addition to an immediate, positive impact on velocities across all key retail accounts. It has been leaning in and dedicating more resources to digital efforts “to ensure we are successfully harnessing the moment and amplifying our story,” Merrill said.

The brand has partnered with targeted micro- and macro-influencers to create new recipes and recently began collaborating with “complementary brands” to continue churning out new cottage cheese-centric ideas, host giveaways and work to broaden its reach. In addition to those efforts, the company has continued to lean into user-generated content and organic influencer posts.

All of that social chatter has also translated to real world results. Citing SPINS data, ending May 19, 2024, Good Culture is now the fastest growing cottage cheese brand across all tracked channels and outpacing the category’s growth by 6x. It has become the top branded cottage cheese in the natural channel and top branded SKU in “most conventional retailers where we are distributed,” Merrill said.

“In 2023, we projected 35% growth, but with cottage cheese trending on TikTok, we ended the year with 80% growth and expect a similar outcome in 2024,” he emphasized.

That has pushed the brand to launch a new summer marketing campaign, “The Obsession is Real”, that seeks to authentically harness how consumers are incorporating the product into their daily lives.

“We kept hearing from consumers that they were ‘obsessed’ with our cottage cheese, the campaign insight felt authentic and ownable, so we ran with it,” Merrill said.

While startup Good Culture may have been at the epicenter of cottage cheese’s recent acclaim, legacy producers are also reaping rewards. Breakstone, an over 140-year-old dairy brand owned by Lactalis Heritage Dairy, highlighted the overall category’s “double-digit growth” and said it is currently the number one snacking cottage cheese brand in the U.S. with its single-serve 4 oz. cups.

“The surge in TikTok and Instagram for easy and approachable recipes and trends drove usage occasion and frequency, not to mention creative ways to incorporate cottage into everything from ice cream, flatbreads and beyond,” said Megan Patterson, digital marketing manager at Lactalis Heritage Dairy. “The limit on versatility of cottage cheese in recipes simply does not exist, at least for now.”

The brand, which also sells a range of flavored cottage cheeses like Pineapple, Peach, Black Cherry and Mango, said it has also taken an “intentional approach” to working with both influencer creators and like-minded brand partners to build “long-term relationships… in an organic and authentic way rather than aiming for fleeting viral success.”

Good Culture feels similarly, stating that the social media traction is the “perfect springboard” to drive continued growth and build long-lasting brand equity. Merrill anticipates “enduring growth” as more consumers turn to “high-protein, clean-label, lifestyle” products.

And these two aren’t the only CPGs capitalizing on the current coolness of cottage cheese. Lifeway Foods expanded its Farmer Cheese manufacturing capacity, positioning it as a “ultra-creamy” cottage cheese alternative and working to grow distribution amid the cottage cheese boom in August.

Others are innovating in line with the trend, including Spēka, a line of cottage cheese-based, refrigerated protein dessert bars. Earlier this summer, Smearcase also made its debut with a lineup of FroCo (i.e.: frozen cottage cheese-based ice cream) that touts 40 grams of protein per pint. The products are available in Vanilla Bean, Mocha Joe and Peanut Butter flavors at a handful of independent stores in the New York Tri-state area.

Startups and legacy brands alike are now putting resources toward extending cottage cheese’s cultural appeal and capturing new consumer groups. For both Good Culture and Breakstone, fresh social media content will be key, and the latter highlighted that it is committed to continue growing the category in the U.S. through innovation.

“Breakstone will focus on new and exciting ways to add cottage cheese to [consumer’s] daily diet through recipe inspiration while exploring innovative dairy products to suit changing lifestyles in the coming years,” Patterson said.