(January 21, 2004) Fine cheeses have expanded beyond the traditional cheese course and are increasingly featured on every part of the menu, according to a recent survey of trend-setting restaurants in San Francisco and the Napa and Sonoma wine regions. The survey revealed, for example, that 83 percent of the restaurants surveyed highlighted fine cheeses as an ingredient or a cheese offering on the appetizer menu, compared with just 19 percent doing so in 2000.
The survey of 105 leading restaurants was conducted late last year by the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) and follows similar surveys conducted in 1995 and 2000 that tracked the growing presence of fine cheeses on the menu and the popularity of the cheese course among leading restaurants. The survey is part of the CMAB's ongoing efforts to educate California cheesemakers about marketplace trends and opportunities.
"We found that fine cheeses are moving from their traditional place at end-of-meal into every part of the menu," said Nancy Fletcher, CMAB Vice President of Communications. "We also found that more than half of the chefs are featuring the names of cheeses and producers in offerings ranging from appetizers to desserts, and increasingly, these cheeses are American specialty and artisan cheeses, including many from California."
"Identifying fine handcrafted cheeses by name and by producer says that the chef wants the diner to know how much he cares about the quality of his ingredients," said Fletcher. "We see many more restaurants doing so today compared with just three years ago. In fact, a number of Northern California restaurants have made California artisan and farmstead cheeses a restaurant signature."
The recent survey also confirmed that the cheese course remains a popular offering at many restaurants. "When we conducted the survey in 2000, we discovered that 65 percent of the restaurants were offering a cheese course, which was a dramatic change from 1995, when only one in 10 did so," said Fletcher. "In our most recent survey, 59 percent offer a cheese course in some form. Clearly, the cheese course is here to stay."
One change is the emergence of cow's milk cheeses on cheese courses. According to Fletcher, cow's milk cheeses have displaced goat's milk cheeses as the most popular type in restaurant cheese courses. The survey revealed that more than half of the featured cheeses were cow's milk cheeses, a reversal of the findings in 2000 when more than half were goat's milk.
The survey also confirmed the growing trend to feature cheeses from American and California producers. While imported cheeses still outnumbered American cheeses on the menus (57 percent compared with 43 percent), the gap has narrowed considerably in the past three years. Significantly, a third of the American cheeses featured on the menu were from California producers.
"Chefs are increasingly realizing that we produce a diverse array of fine cow's milk cheeses in this country, and especially in California," Fletcher said. "Since 2000, the number of cow's milk cheeses produced in California has grown from 160 to more than 200, and almost all of the new cheeses have been specialty, artisan and farmstead types, many of which have recently won national awards."
Part of the reason more restaurants are featuring American specialty and artisan cheeses is because distributors are carrying more American cheeses," Fletcher notes. "We have seen it here in California and now we are seeing it happen in other regions. Chicago and Houston, for example, both have major distributors specializing in fine American cheeses," she said.
The CMAB survey was conducted in fall 2003 and involved examining the menus of 105 leading restaurants in San Francisco and the Napa and Sonoma wine regions, then conducting in-depth conversations with a number of restaurants that prominently feature fine cheeses.
Note: For more highlights from the survey, contact Bob Kenney of Context Marketing, (415) 289-7575.
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) is an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture funded by the state's more than 2,000 dairy families. Established in 1969, the CMAB is headquartered in Modesto, California, and is one of the largest commodity boards in the United States. Under the dairy umbrella, the CMAB executes generic advertising, publicity, retail and foodservice promotions and research programs on behalf of California dairy products, including Real California Cheese.
California is one of the country's leading cheese producers. Since 2001, California's cow's milk cheesemakers have won more awards in total than any other state at the prestigious American Cheese Society annual judging. For more information on California cheeses, visit www.RealCaliforniaCheese.com.