Appreciation of gourmet cheeses spreads

Artisan cheese fans value wide variety of flavors

ANDY CAMPBELL

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Local cheese aficionados agree — people are starting to choose gourmet and specialty cheeses over commercial varieties, an interest that has grown exponentially in the past 10 years.

Artisanal cheese is one of the fastest-growing segments of the $59 billion gourmet food industry, with cheese and dairy expected to see double-digit growth through 2012, according to consumer research firm Packaged Facts. Much of that growth will come from specialty and artisanal cheeses.

A number of factors could be influencing the United States’ newfound love for specialty cheeses. Consumers are becoming more interested in traditional and healthy ways to entertain their palates, said Rachel Riggs, owner of Quel Fromage, an artisan cheese retailer in Fairhaven that opened almost a year and a half ago.

“People want an experience as well as a purchase,” Riggs said. “And they’re going back to traditional foods without preservatives.”

She said the excitement of varied selection keeps customers coming back to try new things.

CHEESE MAKES A JOURNEY

John Appel, owner of Appel Farms cheese manufacturers in Ferndale, grew up in the industry. His father, a Dutch immigrant, bought the farm 40 years ago and started making gouda, a more common cheese from the Netherlands.

In time, other immigrants began to ask the Appels to make specialty cheeses, such as the soft and rare quark and fast-aging paneer.

Twenty years ago, Appel said his farm may have been the only one in the United States making quark cheese. Now, Appel caters to a variety of tastes and sells his products through local markets and a shop on his farm.

He attributes some of his success to the addition of world varieties in gourmet food markets and the mainstreaming of small-farm cheese into typical grocery stores.

“People are becoming more adventuresome,” he said. “Once you try a few varieties you begin to acquire a taste for it.”

CHEESE AS A LIFESTYLE

While the recent interest in specialty cheeses is exciting, Riggs said she isn’t surprised.

Cheese is a lot like wine to consumers — it’s easy to get interested in and has an endless depth of exploration, she said.

She said all sorts of people come into her shop, from world travelers to starving university students looking to try new flavors.

Ten years ago, the industry “bible” was “Cheese Primer” by Steve Jenkins, which scoffed at American cheese for its lack of variety and interested artisans, Riggs said.

Now, she said, it’s no secret that those comments in the “Cheese Primer” are taken, well, with a grain of salt.

“You know our cheese market is doing well when we’re exporting our own to Europe,” she said.

When the American Cheese Society was first formed 25 years ago, board members could count on their hands the number of American cheesemakers producing farmstead cheeses, says board director David Grotenstein. Now they number in the hundreds.

And the group, which gives out the most coveted American cheese awards, has seen the number of cheeses entered into its competitions balloon from 300 cheeses in 2001 to more than 1,200 last year.