Looking to Cheese as an Ingredient for Brand Extension

Cheese brands have increasingly been featured in outbound licensing initiatives, extending for example into the realms of apparel, accessories, and beauty; food service menu items and co-packaged snack pairings; and promotional partnerships. 

In the realm of traditional food-to-food brand-extension programs, the cheese category is better known for its inbound licensing efforts, with flavor brands like hot sauces and spices being integrated into cheese offerings from shreds to blocks. But cheese brands have also gradually become more active in outbound food-to-food licensing programs that take their brands into new aisles of the supermarket. Some examples: 

• This month, Boursin, owned by French dairy the Bel Group, announced it is working with U.K. retailers Iceland and Food Warehouse to introduce an exclusive new line of garlic- and herb-flavored frozen and chilled meals and snacks, including potatoes, vegetables, and party treats. Food Brands Now, a specialist food and beverage licensing agency in the U.K., brokered the deal. The debut range includes filled puff pastries, cheese crowns and cheese bites, mashed potato bake, potato gratin, and cauliflower cheese, with hash brown cups and a snack platter to follow later this year. In 2024, Bel introduced a seasonal collaboration in Canada with Fontaine Santé for three Boursin-flavored dips (hummus, tzatziki, and artichoke), and a pasta salad, all designed for holiday snacking. 
• Last fall Tillamook, best known for its cheddar, partnered with Japanese mayonnaise brand Kewpie for a limited-edition Butternaise, a grilled cheese sandwich condiment combining Tillamook butter, Kewpie mayo, and spices. In 2023, the cheese brand paired with co-packer Golden West Food Group for its inaugural foray into the frozen food aisle, debuting with an array of three flavors of mac and cheese and four varieties of stone-fired pizza.  
• Sargento and Mondelez introduced a line of Sargento Cheese Bakes crackers in 2025, starting with three flavors: Aged White Cheddar and Rosemary, Pepper Jack, and Parmesan and Oregano. The partnership followed a 2021 initiative that brought together Sargento cheese and Mondelez crackers in the same snack packages. 
• Bel Group-owned La Vache Qui Rit/The Laughing Cow, along with another Bel brand, Kiri, paired with Italian pastry maker Pastificio Rana and its Giovanni Rana brand in 2023 for two flavors of fresh prepared mini raviolis, Raviolini La Vache Qui Rit and Raviolini Kiri and Ham, which were developed specifically with kids in mind. Bel also announced a partnership that same year with Climax Foods for plant-based versions of its brands, which include Babybel and Nurishh in addition to Boursin, La Vache Qui Rit, and Kiri. 
• Kraft partnered with the Little Pie Company in 2023 for Kraft Singles Apple Pie, a personal sized apple pie with a melted Kraft Single on top. It also worked with Van Leeuwen in 2021 on a limited-edition Kraft Mac & Cheese-flavored ice cream to mark National Macaroni & Cheese Day and National Ice Cream Month. The flavor was brought back for another short run in 2023, with broader distribution in 3,200 Walmart stores. 
• Back in 2016, Cracker Barrel — a Kraft Heinz brand at the time and now part of the Lactalis corporate family — extended its name into a new category through its then-sibling brand, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Cracker Barrel-branded mac and cheese remains on the market today in partnership with Kraft Heinz, with four flavors available. European dairy company Lactalis acquired the Cracker Barrel cheese brand, along with multiple natural cheese and dairy brands owned by Kraft, in 2021. Cracker Barrel cheese was founded 15 years before the same-named restaurant chain and has always been a separate business.

Food-to-food collaborations involving cheese have often been focused on limited-edition efforts, sometimes skewing toward novelty items. As time goes on, however, longer-term brand extensions meant to become permanent offerings are becoming more common.