January 20 is Cheese Lovers Day in Canada. It is a celebration of the many different types of cheeses in the world, many of which can be found in Canada. There may not be many festivities this year in light of the pandemic, but this article should provide some interesting cheese statistics for all the cheese enthusiasts out there. Many cheeses are prepared by small farms who sell their cheese locally.
Currently in Canada, there are 1451 cheeses registered by the Canadian Cheese Directory, made by 198 different manufacturers. Cheeses are classified according to the moisture content, with six total categories. These categories include firm cheeses, soft cheeses, semi-soft cheeses, fresh cheeses, hard cheeses, and blue-veined cheese. The most distributed are firm cheeses at 35%, followed by soft cheeses, semi-soft cheese, and fresh cheeses at 26%, 22%, and 11% respectively. Hard cheeses and blue-veined cheeses are distributed significantly less, at 4% and 2%.
Looking at provincial distribution, Quebec boasts by far the largest amount of cheese manufacturers, with 112 (about 57% of the 198 total manufacturers across Canada) registered by the Canadian Cheese Directory. These manufacturers are responsible for 909 of the 1451 different cheeses in Canada, a whopping 63%. The next closest province would be Ontario, with 41 cheese manufacturers, responsible for 291 different cheeses, 20% of the 1451. British Columbia houses 18 cheese manufacturers, producing 142 different cheeses, about 10% of the total. The remaining seven provinces carry a total of 27 cheese manufacturers, and produce a total of 109 different cheeses, the remaining 7% of the total. Interestingly, there are no registered cheese manufacturers in any of the Territories.
Cheeses in Canada are created exclusively from either cow milk, buffalo milk, goat milk, or ewe milk. Cow and buffalo cow milk is by far the most used, with 957 out of the total 1451 different cheeses solely containing cow or buffalo cow milk. Goat milk comes second, with 327, followed by ewe milk, at 110. The remaining 57 cheeses uses a combination of either two or three of the different types of milk. In fact, there are only 3 cheeses that incorporate cow, goat and ewe milk. This includes two variations of the Grand Manitou cheese produced by two different Quebec manufacturers, and the Krinos Feta, made by an Ontarian manufacturer.
Taking a look at organic certification, only 121 cheeses are certified organic in Canada, with the remaining 1330 considered non-organic. Despite only producing 10% of the different cheeses in Canada, British Columbia boasts 30 organic cheeses, making up almost 25% of all the organic cheeses. Conversely, Ontario, which produces 20% of the different cheeses, only have 2 cheeses that are considered organic.
More stats, such as rind description, milk treatment, and manufacturing process can be found on the Canadian Dairy Information Centre Website.