Those in the cheese business are facing a potentially difficult current economic environment: according to Businessweek, this dairy cornerstone of modern commercial food is more expensive than it’s been for some time, with mozzarella alone costing three dollars a pound.
Companies marketing their cheeses to businesses and restaurants therefore need to be specific with the language they use to describe it. Food labels can communicate this so that expectations are met, and one thing cheese companies might want to emphasize is the way their product melts.
This may sound like a relatively small aspect of a versatile product, but melting cheese is one of its most popular uses, one that’s key to the way it’s sold and marketed. And the way that your cheese melts can affect its popularity.
The Wall Street Journal mentions this, among other thing, in a recent article on the pervasiveness of this method. According to writer Sarah Nassauer, more expensive cheese isn’t as useful for melts, meaning that processed cheese products like Velveeta brings something to the taste equation that cheese eaten regularly does not.
“Melted cheese can be a more powerful flavor than cheese alone,” Nassauer writes. Heat brings out cheese’s umami flavor, the fifth flavor after sweet, salt, sour and bitter that is also found in foods like soy sauce, savory broth and seaweed.”
Different cheese will melt at a different rate and with varying consistency. To give manufacturers the clearest idea of what your product can bring, you can include pictures of the melting cheese on your packaging by making color labels that specifically shows this.