Demand is running hot for the Co-op’s Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) mozzarella cheese in South Korea, as a leading retailer in the country laps up our stretchy cheese and grass-fed proposition.
Emart Traders is a big-box warehouse chain known for its wide range of products, with 129 hypermarkets, 23 warehouse-style hypermarkets and 259 supermarkets under its control.
The giant retailer also serves pizzas topped with the Co-op’s IQF mozzarella at its Traders cafés which had 7 million people through the doors in 2024.
Emart Traders is one of the Co-op’s largest retail customers in North Asia, and the retailer’s demand for the mozzarella, made at our Clandeboye site in South Canterbury, hinges on several factors, says Richard Allen, President, Global Markets – Ingredients.
“Fonterra produces great quality mozzarella. Also, our New Zealand-made, grass-fed proposition really sets us apart in this market, as increasing awareness of sustainability is driving Korean consumers to choose products with provenance and nutritional credentials,” Richard Allen says.
Emart Trader has teamed up with Fonterra to showcase the benefits of grass-fed dairy with displays in its stores advertising the Co-op’s mozzarella as “golden cheese, full of aroma, taste and freshness” due to the cows that it comes from grazing outside year-round on grass.
The Co-op exported more than 20,000 metric tonnes of cheese to South Korea in the 2024 financial year, and while mozzarella made up a small portion of it, demand for the stretchy cheese is increasing.