Goodbye to all fat?

The revolution in healthy eating has been felt most sharply in dairy products. Fat is in all dairy foodstuffs - unskimmed cows' milk is 4% fat, while the fat content of cheese and butter can be as high as 80%. And in these health-conscious times, customers are keenly aware of the need to cut down.

Although the market has responded to consumer demand for lower-fat and dairy alternative products, it seems the dairy market is growing slowly - which in an expanding economy means it is static or declining in share.

"There is a definite trend towards low-fat and no-fat products," says Neil Hendry, lead analyst for consumer products at Datamonitor. "Dairy product consumption is growing at 0.7% per year, much more slowly than other categories. Consumers see high-protein and high-fat products as unhealthy."

According to Hendry, the dairy market has traditionally suffered from a lack of innovation, and as health concerns have grown it has failed to react. It needs to look at developing low-fat products to retain market share, he says. "Yogurt is the one area where there is significant growth in consumption, because of its healthy image," he adds.

So how is consumption changing? TV chef and restaurateur Antony Worrall Thompson thinks diners are more health conscious but still want tasty, high-fat dishes for special meals, and this means different sections of the catering industry must respond in different ways.

"We're serving far fewer creamy sauces and far less cheese," he says. "There are a lot of customers asking for low-fat and no-fat products, but at the same time when people go out for a meal they want a bit of a binge and they look after healthy eating at home."

It is in food service that much of the demand for less fat is felt. This is driven by the consumer market, says Tony Hankin, who heads up the food service division of Lactalis, which produces President cheeses. When people eat away from the home they are driven by choices they have made at the supermarket, he says.

"The sandwich industry is the main area where lower-fat products are coming through. It's happening slowly but surely in hotels and restaurants, but school meals are moving more quickly towards low-fat products because of the child obesity issue," Hankin says.

Simon Muschamp, head of marketing at Pritchitts, which makes non-dairy Millac products, says one way consumers are eating more healthily is by skipping dessert. "Health-conscious consumers tend to choose a starter and main course when they eat out, rather than a main course and dessert, seeing the latter as more calorific," he says. "This is having an impact on sales of cream products."

In some cases, consumers want non-dairy alternatives. Cheese is an area where companies are cashing in. According to Redwood, which makes Cheezly non-dairy "cheeses", there is a significant and growing market for alternatives to cheese. Director Keith Stott says that if you include vegetarians, vegans, dairy-intolerant and those driven by religious requirements, there are about 10 million people in the UK who want an alternative to cheese.

"This is an important and neglected market for many caterers, particularly pizza suppliers," Stott says. "There are many societies and web sites that help identify and promote establishments that cater for those who cannot consume dairy cheese for health reasons, or choose not to for ethical reasons."

Suppliers are responding to these changes in customer behaviour with new products. Redwood this year introduced cheese alternatives it says melt like the real thing but are lower in fat than dairy-based cheese and free from hydrogenated fats and oils and have no cholesterol.

But can you really replace dairy fat, and would you want to? It's mostly the fat that gives dairy products their taste, and with better-educated consumers often choosing when to indulge their tastes selectively while observing lower-fat diets overall, cheese producers are reporting healthy sales.

"Low fat is by no means the only game in town," says Hankin at Lactalis. "Many millions of people in this country are now far more interested in food than they used to be and they still want products with great provenance, history and taste, whether for special occasions or everyday. These are the people who will want to continue to exercise their own portion control and still enjoy the real thing."

Nick Fenwicke Clennell of the Cheese Cellar Company reports a brisk business in full-fat products. "While there has been a low-fat explosion, there is great interest in full-fat cheeses. We sell about 5,000 tonnes of cheese a year and 0.5% of that is low fat. People want full-fat products when it comes to speciality cheeses because of the taste and this is all part of the explosion of knowledge and interest in cheeses as a result of travel and food programmes. This in turn is part of the movement towards natural foods and knowing their provenance."

Galbani imports Italian cheeses and marketing manager Stephanie Shakibai agrees that while low-fat products may have gained the nutritional high ground, traditional full-fat cheeses have a place in a healthy diet. "Dairy products are naturally high in fat and sometimes salt, but they also contain important nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are essential in a balanced diet," she says. "Consumed in moderation and in association with other low-fat products, such as bread and vegetables, they form part of a healthy diet. It's much more important for consumers to understand the nutritional value of dairy products so they can make educated decisions about their diet and not simply take products at face value as being either good or bad for them."

It is a view shared by the Dairy Council, which recommends consumers change their habits so that fat consumption is limited but vital nutrients are not lost. "The Dairy Council encourages people to consider portion size so they get the calcium and other good things that dairy can give them but without consuming too much fat," a spokesperson says. "A lot of people like the taste and they can enjoy it every day in moderation."

So, consumers know that full-fat products taste good and that they can eat them, but not all the time. According to Andrew Turner, executive chef at the 1880 restaurant in London's Bentley Hotel, this means chefs must know what their guests want and think about how they can adapt dishes.

"I'll take fat out of things if possible - for example, in soups - but in many cases it's the fat that makes things taste good," he says. "The challenge for chefs is to find the right balance in their dishes so they can offer full-fat ingredients but not to excess. It comes down to experience and talking to guests."

So should we trim the fat? The answer, it seems, is not always.

Contacts
Cheese Cellar Company 020 7501 0600
www.cheesecellar.co.uk

CréaVite FraÁ®che
0800 032 4405
www.creavite.com

Dairy Councilwww.milk.co.uk

Galbani UK
020 8673 7114

Grana Padano
00 39 30 910 9811
www.granapadano.com

Lactalis
020 8336 6500
www.lactalis.co.uk

Pritchitts 020 8290 7020
www.pritchitts.com

Redwood Wholefood 01536 400557
www.redwoodfoods.co.uk