Dairy's unlikely new champion is a centuries-old Indian cheese

Unlike many faux-meat options, however, paneer is clean-label, meaning it's made with minimal ingredients

Given the current obsession with plant-based cooking, cheese might seem like a food in decline.

But curd consumption has risen 19 per cent in the past de­cade, according to recent data from the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Resea­rch Service. It’s the main catal­yst of per capita dairy consum­ption. Last year was great for the dairy case, as sales grew $7 billion from a year earlier to $61 billion, according to Madison, Wisconsin-based International Dairy Deli Bakery Association.

At Kroger Company, the second-best-selling overall product of 2020 was four-cheese Mexican blend. (Zero-calorie soft drinks were No. 1.)

Now an under-the-radar cheese is making