Nearly 13,000 tons of fake cheese were produced in our country last year and sold on the market, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The amount is greater than that produced in 2023, when processing plants sold 12,867 tons of imitation product.
This is recalled by focus-news.net.
In 2024, the largest quantities of fake cheese were produced by enterprises in January, March and August - over 1,200 tons each. According to experts, this product is sold mainly in restaurants and bakeries, where it is widely used in snacks. In stores, the imitation product must be on a separate display case and must be packaged.
However, the production of real cheese made from cow's milk without vegetable additives is decreasing. Last year, dairies produced just over 71 thousand tons of cheese made from cow's milk, and in 2023 - nearly 75.4 thousand tons. Cheese made from other milks was 10,620 tons in 2023, compared to only 8,187 tons last year.
The total milk production for 2024 amounted to 691 million liters, with 97 percent of it being cow's milk, only 20.5 million liters being sheep's milk, 10.17 million liters being goat's milk, and 3.4 million liters being goat's milk - buffalo.
In milk production, processing companies also report a decline, with the purchased quantities in 2023 being 708.2 million liters, Pariteni.bg writes. Of these, 66.3 thousand tons are packaged fresh milk, and fermented milk - 161 thousand tons.
In 2024, an increase was also recorded in fresh milk and fermented milk - 72.22 thousand tons and 165.7 thousand tons, respectively. A serious decrease is recorded in the production of butter and cream compared to 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.