Trend of the Cheese Industry in the United States and Other Countries

Excerpts from the report: In the last half century the production of farm-made cheese in the United States has practically ceased. Factory cheese, which has taken its place, now exceeds 300 million pounds annually, about three times the highest figure ever reached by cheese made on farms. The factory system of cheesemaking, developed in the United States, has stimulated cheese production in practically every country. The United States in recent years has consumed practically all the cheese it produced and in addition, just before the war, was importing about one-tenth of the exports from all other countries. In 1880 the United States was the greatest cheese-exporting country in the world. In 1918 there were five countries each of which exceeded the United States in exports. The cheese exported by European countries is of special types, while that from Canada, United States, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia is largely of the Cheddar type. A relatively small quantity of "filled" cheese made in the United States between 1870 and 1905 and sold as genuine cheese practically destroyed the confidence of European purchasers in the quality of cheese from the United States. Countries exporting those varieties of cheese which are especially used for savory purposes appear to have enjoyed a continuous export demand. The variations in their exports are not so marked as in those that made the Cheddar type of cheese. The annual cheese consumption in the United States has been less than 4 pounds per capita during practically all the time of record, and has never reached 5 pounds per capita as a national average. For the most part the per capita consumption of cheese has been less in the countries using only a few varieties than in those where numerous varieties are used.