Publish Date: August 2026
Updated Tariff & Recession Risk Analysis and Forecasts
The 2026 Cheese Production Market Report covers the $62.3 billion industry which operates with a bifurcated market structure featuring large-scale manufacturers of commodity cheeses alongside specialized producers creating artisanal, specialty, and regional varieties that command significant price premiums. Consumer preferences continue evolving toward more distinctive flavor profiles, traditional production methods, convenient formats, and transparent sourcing stories highlighting provenance and production values. Manufacturers face complex operational challenges balancing milk quality consistency, aging infrastructure requirements, specialized culture maintenance, and tariff considerations affecting both premium cheese imports and export opportunities. Successful companies are differentiating through proprietary aging techniques developing distinctive flavor profiles, specialized production capabilities for emerging cheese varieties, sustainable dairy sourcing initiatives addressing environmental and animal welfare concerns, and innovative packaging formats enhancing convenience and preservation in a category where perceived authenticity, production methodology, and increasingly ethical sourcing credentials significantly influence consumer willingness to pay premium prices across diverse cheese formats.
Cheese Production Industry Description
Cheese Production transforms milk into various cheese types through controlled fermentation, coagulation, and aging processes. Companies in this industry operate specialized facilities that combine milk with cultures, enzymes, and other ingredients to create specific cheese varieties ranging from fresh soft cheeses to aged hard cheeses. Manufacturing processes include milk standardization, culturing, curd formation, cutting, draining, forming, salting, and aging under controlled environmental conditions to develop distinctive flavor and texture profiles. These businesses serve retail grocery markets, food service operations, and food manufacturers with products used as ingredients, snacks, and meal components, ranging from commodity cheeses produced in large volumes to artisanal and specialty varieties created using traditional techniques, with formats spanning everything from large manufacturing blocks to consumer-sized packages of sliced, shredded, and specialty cheeses.
NAICS Code: 311513
Number of Companies: 393
Number of Plants / Facilities: 537
Total Employees: 52,243
Market Size: $62.3 billion
TARIFF IMPACT (Summer 2025 – Download Report for Updated Analysis)
This report has in-depth analysis on the recent US tariff changes on material costs, quantifying import dependencies, tariff exposure rates, and key source countries for the cheese production sector.
Estimated Tariff Cost: $640 million
Relative Tariff Impact: MODERATE
Cheese Production Report Format
The 2026 U.S. Cheese Production Market Report is 63 pages of deep insights into the trends, dynamics, and forecasts shaping the industry. You can use this market report to develop a comprehensive fact base on the industry for business strategy, planning, forecasting, benchmarking, industry analysis, valuations, identifying organizational inefficiencies, financial analysis, and more.
With more than one hundred industry analyses and data sets covering trends from 2017 to 2025 and forecasts for 2026 and 2030, this report is one of the comprehensive assessments of the industry. The report includes revenue & cost trends, in-depth OPEX analysis on 26 categories, extensive financial analysis, extensive forecasts, inventory trends & analysis, 31 balance sheet benchmarks, numerous industry segmentations, competitive intensity analysis, production material costs, profitability analysis, state metrics analysis, plant productivity benchmarks, organizational breakdown, inflation trend benchmarks, compensation analysis, revenue per employee trends, and numerous other data sets.
Below are a few page images from the report and check out the table of contents for a complete overview.
Report Table of Contents
Explore the below table of contents to appreciate why thousands of professionals, bankers, consultants, accountants, and other executives rely on Kentley Insights for data-rich industry insights.
The data source for the report is extensive annual expense, revenue, wage, operational, and economic surveys administered by federal and private institutions and filled out by a majority of companies in the cheese production industry. The forecasts in the report are modeled by our research analysts using the latest economic forecasts, industry analysis, and historical trends.
1-2 – Report Overview & Table of Contents
3 – Market Overview
– Methodology, Industry Definition & Market Commentary
4 – Market Snapshot – Revenue & Growth
5 – Market Snapshot – Costs & Profitability
SECTION ONE
REVENUE & GROWTH BENCHMARKS
7 – Market Growth Details
– Revenues, Companies, & Facilities
– 2017-2025 Historical Figures
– Forecasts for 2026 and the Next 5 Years
8 – Growth Benchmarks
– Revenues per Company & Facility
– Facilities per Company
– 2017-2025 Historical Figures
– Forecasts for 2026 and the Next 5 Years
9 – Breakdown of Product Lines
– Percentage of Revenue from Product Lines
10 – BCG Matrix – Net Income vs. Revenue Growth
– Manufacturing Subsectors vs. Industry
11 – Total Revenue by Month & Year
– Revenue per Month for 2021-2025
12 – Inventory Value by Month & Year
– Inventory Value per Month for 2021-2025
13 – Months of Inventory
– Months of Inventory per Month for 2021-2025
14 – Market Size by Segments
– Concentration Segments – Top 4, 5-8, 9-20, & 21-50 companies
– Business Size Segments – 1-4, 5-9, 10-20, 21-50, 51-100, 101-250, & 250+ employees
– Business Structure Segments – C-Corporations, S-Corporations, Partnerships, & Sole Proprietorships
15 – Market Size by State
16 – Revenue as a % of State GDP
17 – Revenue as a % of State Manufacturing
18 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
– Sales as a % of Income and State Rankings
19 – Market Segmentation by Business Size
– Business Size Segments – 1-4, 5-9, 10-20, 21-50, 51-100, 101-250, & 250+ employees
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
20 – Segmentation by Concentration (Top 50 Companies)
– Concentration Segments – Top 4, 5-8, 9-20, & 21-50 companies
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
21 – Market Share of Top 50 Companies
– Market Share & Total Revenue for 2020 versus 2025
22 – Subsector Market Share of Top 50 Companies
23 – Segmentation by Business Structure
– Business Structure Segments – C-Corporations, S-Corporations, Partnerships, & Sole Proprietorships
– Companies, Facilities, Sales, Employees & Payroll
24 – Sales per Company by State
25 – Sales per Company by Segments
26 – Sales per Facility by State
27 – Sales per Facility by Segment
28 – Manufacturing Subsector Growth
– Sales and 5-Year CAGR
29 – Manufacturing Subsector Statistics
– Sales per Company & Facility, and 5-Year CAGR
30 – Consolidation Analysis
– 5-year CAGR of Companies & Locations
31 – Employment Consolidation Analysis
– 5-year CAGR of Employee Statistics
32 – Manufacturing Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Number of Companies & Facilities
– 5-Year CAGR
33 – Manufacturing Subsector Consolidation Analysis
– Facilities per Company
– Employees per Company
– 5-Year CAGR
SECTION TWO
COST, CAPITAL & PROFIT BENCHMARKS
35 – Profitability & Financial Ratio Analysis
– Percent of Companies that are Profitable
– Average Net Income as a Percent of Revenue
– Financial Ratios – 10 ratios, Total Asset Turnover, Fixed Asset Turnover, Fixed Assets to Total Assets Ratio, Total Assets to Total Liabilities Ratio, Return on Sales, Return on Total Assets, Return on Net Worth, Total Liabilities to Net Worth Ratio, Fixed Assets to Net Worth Ratio, Solvency Ratio
Page 36 – Balance Sheet Metrics
– Assets and Liabilities indexed to industry revenue at 100
– Current & Non-Current Assets: Cash, Notes & Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Bad Debts, Inventories, Treasuries & Securities, Other Current Assets, Loans to Shareholders / Mortgage, Other Investments, Depreciable Assets, Accumulated Depreciation, Land, Intangible Assets (Amortizable), Accumulated Amortization, Other Assets
– Short-term, Long-term Liabilities, & Net Worth: Accounts Payable, Mortgages, Notes, Bonds due in less than 1 Yr., Other Current Liabilities, Loans from Shareholders, Mortgages, Notes, Bonds > 1 Yr., Other Liabilities, Capital Stock, Additional Paid-in Capital, Retained Earnings, Cost of Treasury Stock
37 – Operating Expenses
– Industry Operating Expenses
– Revenue vs. Operating Expense Growth
– Operating Expense as a Percent of Revenue
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
38 – Operating Expenses by Company & Facility
– Operating Expenses per Company & Facility
– Revenue vs. Expenses Growth per Facility
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
Page 39 – Operating Expense Detail
– Employee Expenses: Annual Payroll, Health insurance, Defined benefit pension plans, Defined contribution plans, Other fringe benefits, Temporary staff
– Cost of Materials: Cost of materials, parts, containers, packaging, etc., Cost of resale, Cost of electricity and fuels, Cost of contract work
– Buildings and Equipment: Capex for machinery and equipment, Rental or lease for machinery and equipment, Capex for buildings and structures, Rental or lease for buildings and structures, Repair and maintenance of buildings and machinery
– Other Operating Expenses: Professional and technical services, IT software and hardware, Data processing and communications, Advertising, Refuse removal, Taxes and license fees, All other operating expenses
-Inventory Breakdown: Inventory (as a % of total receipts), Finished goods inventory, Work-in-progress inventory, Materials and supplies inventory
40 – Production Material Costs & Tariff Analysis
– Top Production Material Costs Breakdown
– Industry & Material Tariff Analysis – % of costs, import %, tariff costs, source countries
41 – Producer Pricing Index
– Annual PPI – Indexed to 2006
– 2017-2025 Historical Figures
– Forecasts for 2026 and the Next 5 Years
– Monthly PPI Figures for the Past 4 Years
42 – Plant Utilization & Hours
– Plant Utilization Rate
– Plant Operational Hours per Week
– 2022-2025 Historical Figures by Quarter
43 – Reasons for Non-Full Production
– 7 Categories Quarterly Survey Results for Past 2 Years
44 – Productivity & Employment
– Revenue per Employee
– Total Industry Employees
– Employees per Company
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
45 – Employee Productivity by Segments
46 – Employee Productivity by State
47 – Manufacturing Subsector Sales & Payroll per Employee
– Absolute & 5-year CAGR
48 – Payroll Analysis
– Payroll per Employee, Company & Facility
– Trend Analysis & Forecasts
49 – Payroll per Company by Segments
50 – Payroll per Facility by Segments
51 – Payroll per Employee by Segments
52 – Payroll per Employee by State
53 – Workforce Composition
– % of Employees for 27 Job Categories
– Management & Finance
– Sales & Marketing
– Technology, Engineering, Science
– Service, Support & Training
– Operations
54 – Job Categorization Pay Ranges
– Pay Bands – Bottom 10% & 25%, Mean, Top 25% & 10%
55 – Top 20 Jobs Breakdown
– Percent of Total Employees
56 – Top 20 Jobs Pay
57 – Employees per Company by Segments
58 – Employees per Facility by Segments
59 – Facilities per Company by Segments
60 – Total Employment by State
61 – Population to Every Employee by State
62 – Employees per Facility by State
63 – Overview of Kentley Insights
Download a Sample Report
Below is a free sample report download. The 2026 Cheese Production Market Report has the same layout and data sets as the sample report.
Product Lines, Materials, and Jobs Covered in Report
PRODUCT LINES
Natural cheese (cheddar, Swiss, Italian, brick, cream, grated, dried, etc.), excluding cottage cheese
Process cheese and related products
Cheese manufacturing, nsk, total
Cheese substitutes and imitations
Raw liquid whey
MATERIAL COST CATEGORIES
Whole milk
Natural cheese, process cheese, and cheese substitutes
Materials, ingredients, containers, and supplies, nsk
Cost of all other materials and components, parts, containers, and supplies consumed
Fluid milk products and dairy product substitutes
Dry, condensed, and evaporated dairy products, including dry dairy product substitutes
Paper and paperboard products
Plastics products (including packaging, foam products, film, sheet, rod, tube, fabricated shapes, bottles, etc.)
Plastics containers (including bottles, jars, tubes, tubs, etc.)
INDUSTRY JOBS ANALYZED
Miscellaneous Food Processing Workers
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
Laborers and Material Movers, Hand
Driver/Sales Workers and Truck Drivers
Chemical Processing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
Miscellaneous Production Workers
Industrial Machinery Installation, Repair, and Maintenance Workers
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks
Crushing, Grinding, Polishing, Mixing, and Blending Workers
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing
Agricultural and Food Science Technicians
Fast Food and Counter Workers
General and Operations Managers
Building Cleaning Workers
Industrial Production Managers
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