Irish dairy companies are working on developing new cheddar cheese formats and innovations expressly for the Chinese consumer at the Moorepark Technology centre in Cork.

Launching the Teagasc annual report for 2019, Teagasc director Gerry Boyle said the dairy industry was using the €10m Moorepark Technology centre to get “Brexit-ready” and had commenced a new project called “Cheddar for China”.

With over 50% of Irish cheddar going to the UK market, the Irish dairy industry is looking to diversify into new cheese export markets.

Boyle said the Cheddar for China initiative was conducting large-scale sensory testing with new cheddar formats that might appeal to consumers in China where cheese consumption is very low but beginning to grow.