May 12, 2025 – In France, consumers are increasingly choosing cheese and cheese alternatives for various reasons, including taste, health benefits, and various dietary requirements. Innova Market Insights research explores French cheese market trends like product launches, claims, and flavors, and reveals innovation opportunities that brands and companies can leverage to stay ahead in the market.
Cheese Market Size and Forecast
France’s cheese market displays steady market value and volume growth over the past five years. It is forecast to rise by 2% CAGR in sales and volume each up to 2027. The market is mature, making it difficult to achieve a high rate of growth. However, cheese remains deeply entrenched in the daily French diet, contributing to sales stability despite an aging population and shifting preferences toward foods perceived to be better for you.
France’s per capita cheese consumption ranks second globally. Cheese is considered a staple in the French diet, with strong connections to consuming it with wine and bread. It is often eaten on its own as part of daily meals rather than as a topping or ingredient. The country boasts a wide variety of local and signature cheese types, offering tasty options to satisfy virtually every palate, creating strong local and national demand for cheese compared to most other countries. France’s per capita consumption is growing yearly, while the rest of the category volume growth stems from population growth.
Cheese Product Launch Trends
France’s 1% CAGR growth in cheese product launches outpaces total food and beverage launch activity over the past five years. The processed cheese subcategory shows the fastest launch growth as consumers shift toward lower-cost options amid rising dairy prices. Many processed cheese options offer a longer shelf life than their unprocessed counterparts, adding to their appeal.
In the cheese market, the new launches span a wide variety of bases consistent with eclectic consumer preferences. 30% of launches described as ‘cheese’ base represent the highest single type that does not specify a cheese base. Within 70% of launches mentioning a specific cheese type, goat cheese emerges as the top base. However, it represents fewer entries as budget-conscious consumers seek affordable alternatives due to the high prices of these products.
Consumer Preferences
In France, cheese trends show that 63% of consumers have purchased dairy cheese in the past year. The cheese purchasing penetration is high in France, driven by the category’s deep cultural and historical roots. Many regions have their own unique cheeses based on local ingredients and production methods, with more than 1,200 varieties in the country.
Dairy cheese purchasing penetration skews toward older generations, like Boomers and Generation X. Individuals with high incomes prioritize expensive organic and locally sourced products. However, the category also skews to the less educated with lower incomes, particularly in rural regions where cheese remains a dietary staple. It serves as an affordable source of protein, calcium, and fats compared to meat and fish. Consumers mostly eat dairy cheese as part of lunch or dinner meals.
Taste and health are key reasons for consuming cheese in France. Cheese trends indicate that 31% of consumers in France have increased the consumption of non-dairy cheese, driven by perceived healthiness and greater variety and novelty. They prefer traditionally made, natural, and locally produced claims when consuming cheese products.
Cheese Positionings Trends
In the cheese market, organic, vegetarian, no additives or preservatives, and GMO-free are top positionings in dairy cheese clean label claims. Generation Z is particularly interested in product safety claims. Nearly three-quarters of cheese entries make some sort of ethical packaging claim, primarily focusing on recycled or recyclable packaging. However, cheese manufacturers can consider expanding corporate responsibility efforts, which can be cited on packaging to reduce purchase barriers.
Source of protein claims shows 2% rise in product launches. Health claims are limited in dairy cheese launches, but they offer differentiation opportunities as the French population ages.
Cheese Flavors and Ingredients
No flavor category dominates the taste profiles of new cheese entries, but fruit, spices and seeds, nuts, brown, ethnic, and flower flavors are growing. Flavor variety is particularly important for non-dairy cheese, as perceived variety is
a top driver for consumption.
Over half of new cheese entries highlight enzymes in their ingredient listing. They play an important role in converting raw milk to curd—ripening the cheese and impacting texture and flavor development. Additionally, botanical ingredients are rising in launches as they enhance flavor, aroma, and appearance and deliver desirable functional benefits.
What’s Next in Cheese and Cheese Alternative Trends?
The cheese category in France has been growing slowly over the past five years and is projected to grow at a similar rate until 2027. The median age in France is expected to rise concurrently with a slow birth rate, with nearly one-third of the country’s population projected to be over 60 in the next five years. Thus, the consumption of food high in saturated fat, such as cheese, is anticipated to slow down as older consumers change their diets due to health concerns. Brands and innovators can retain older consumers with traditional entries that still deliver on exceptional taste with lower fat levels. Meanwhile, they can attract younger consumers through new product launches that meet their innovation, safety, transparency, and ethical expectations.
Consumers have strong cultural expectations for traditional cheese-making methods, so messaging on the use of historical manufacturing methods is important to convey product authenticity. Brands can highlight more clean label features such as organic, naturalness, and local sourcing, which will help them to indicate the purity, quality, and nutritiousness of their products.
Brands are likely to focus on expanding variety and innovating with new flavors, ingredients, and packages to deliver superior convenience and better-for-you recipes to keep category purchasing penetration stable.
This article is based on Innova’s Cheese & Cheese Alternatives in France report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more
