Glazed curd cheese bars – ripe for expansion?
Western countries are still getting to know the product, although the East Coast of the US has some products through the “Clio” brand.
Monika Labutiene, sales manager for Pakma, told DairyReporter each country has its own unique recipes. The main flavors (of the filling, curd mass and glaze) and sweetness of the cheese – are decided according to cultural tastes. She said some countries like products that are sweeter whereas consumers in other countries are not used to the sweetness.
Labutiene said one reason the product is expanding geographically is people originally from the Baltic region wanting to find familiar products in their local supermarkets.
She said the production process starts from preparation of the curd mass. The cheeses are then pressed into the desired shape and filled with jam or other fillings, and they are often coated in chocolate.
The second step is for the cheeses to be coated with chocolate glaze by going through a ‘glaze waterfall’ and to be cooled in the cooling tunnel to get the best effect.
Production line
Pakma creates the production line for the production of classic glazed curd cheeses and also double dosing, for example adding crushed nuts on top of the cheese, a double layer of glaze, or cheeses coated in chocolate.
Its GSL glazed curd cheese production line can makes up to 16,000 snacks per hour.
Labutiene said options include cheeses with sprinkles and double glazing; cheeses decorated with different colored glazes; cheeses on cookies, biscuits, wafers, muesli (up to 10,000 cheeses per hour); cheeses on “Viennese waffles” (up to 8,000 cheeses per hour); and cheeses covered with natural chocolate.
Labutiene said for most people trying the cheeses for the very first time, it tastes something like a smooth sweet dessert or ice cream, and its texture is thicker than cream cheese.
“And during exhibitions worldwide – people enjoy the taste and comes back with friends to try these snacks,“ Labutiene said.
Product variants
One example of the products is Magija Chocolate-Coated Vanilla Curd Snack, a chocolate covered vanilla flavored curd bar available in Lithuania and many other European countries that looks similar to a small chocolate bar. The 45g bar includes 12.8g of protein and 25.3g of sugar.
Other flavors in the the Magija range include chocolate-coated curd with cacao and caramelized hazelnut; chocolate-coated curd with condensed milk; chocolate-coated curd with coconut; and chocolate-coated curd with poppy seeds.
The Clio snacks are marketed in the US as a Greek yogurt bar wrapped in chocolate, with flavors such as blueberry, strawberry, honey, hazelnut, vanilla and espresso.
