Sales of cheese substitute products slumped in the first half of the year in the German market. By the end of June, market researchers put total sales in the category at retail prices at €52m. This means that the market has shrunk by more than 16 per cent compared to the same period last year. In terms of volume, the market researchers also only recorded a slight increase of just under 0.4 per cent. The figures take into account all plant-based cheese alternatives including vegan spreads, but excluding hummus.
From January to June, private labels made strong gains with a sales market share of 45.5 per cent (same period last year: 35.6 per cent) and a turnover market share of around 30 per cent (same period last year: more than 28 per cent). As the market is not growing, this boom is leading to a shift in market share at the expense of the more expensive manufacturer brands – in particular the Simply V brand. The cheese substitute brand of the first hour is produced by E.V.A. GmbH, a subsidiary of the Allgäu-based cheese manufacturer Hochland. Simply V continues to occupy first place among the manufacturer brands, but lost a significant share of the sales market in the first half of the year, falling from around 30 per cent in the first half of 2023 to just over 18 per cent in the first half of 2024. The sales market share fell from 34.5 per cent to 23.5 per cent.
