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UK blended cheese specialist The Ilchester Cheese Co is expanding its flavoured cheese portfolio with the launch of a new 185g bar format across its flagship Applewood and Mexicana brands.
The company said the move is designed to drive greater versatility and usage occasions within the flavoured cheese category, giving consumers a format better suited to slicing, grating, cubing and cooking across everyday meals and snacking occasions.
Available nationwide from late April with an RRP of £2.75, the new products include the Applewood Original Bar and The Original Mexicana Cheddar Bar.
According to The Ilchester Cheese Co., consumer testing showed strong demand for bolder flavour profiles, particularly smoky and spicy varieties, as shoppers increasingly look to add more flavour to home cooking and casual dining occasions.
The new Applewood Original Bar expands the Applewood portfolio, which the company describes as Britain’s leading smoky cheddar range.
The product combines Barber’s mellow cheddar with Applewood’s signature smoky flavour and paprika coating, while also introducing new flow-wrap packaging with a viewing window aimed at improving shelf visibility and shopper appeal.
Meanwhile, The Original Mexicana Cheddar Bar extends the Mexicana line beyond its existing sliced cheese offering. The bar blends cheddar with chilli, jalapeño and bell peppers, targeting consumers seeking more flavour-led and protein-rich meal additions.
James Catchpole, managing director at Ilchester Cheese Co, said: “Our flavoured cheeses have been elevating meals and occasions for more than 60 years – flavour and format innovation is part of our DNA and the new 185g bar adds to this strong heritage. This is about versatility of usage and increasing suitability for whatever the cooking or enjoyment occasion is.”
Founded on the pioneering concept of blending flavours with cheddar cheese, The Ilchester Cheese Co.’s origins date back to 1962, when publican Ken Seaton first mixed beer with cheddar at The Ilchester Arms, a concept that later evolved into one of the UK’s best-known flavoured cheese businesses.