October 14, 2016
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Agropur makes plans to market its specialty cheeses in the U.S.

OKA LEADS THE WAY — Agropur plans to soon begin exporting some of its specialty cheeses into the U.S. market, with the OKA line leading the way. Some of Agropur’s fine cheeses include (top left on the plate) OKA with mushrooms and Champfleury as well as (on the platter) Rondoux Triple Crème, OKA, OKA L’Artisan and Délicrème cream cheese.

AGROPUR SPECIALTIES — Canada-based Agropur’s specialty cheeses include Crème Brie L’Extra, Crème Champfleury and Crème OKA.

By Kate Sander

LONGUEUIL, Quebec — Agropur Cooperative, a major player in the Canadian dairy industry, has made headlines in the last few years with its acquisitions, including that of U.S.-based Davisco Foods in 2014. Now, the company is looking to expand its presence in the specialty cheese export market, particularly with new offerings for U.S. consumers.

In the coming year, Agropur’s export division will be renewing its focus, targeting the U.S. market with specialty foodservice and retail items, says Marcel Larivee, vice president, international trade, Agropur.

Agropur is a leading specialty cheese producer in Canada, particularly known for its OKA brand. The brand already is known in the United States, but in the past few years the co-op has done little to market it outside Canada.

“The focus was more domestic, but Agropur has grown quite a bit in the last five to eight years,” Larivee says, noting that the time is now right for Agropur to move into the U.S. market. In addition, with the product line and name already known, the OKA brand is the ideal flagship product for Agropur in the United States, Larivee says.

The move into greater distribution into the U.S. market has been in the works since 2013, when Agropur acquired M. Larivee International Inc. (MLI), a trading house specializing in dairy products and food ingredients that was owned by Larivee. With the sale of his company, Larivee joined Agropur to re-create the Agropur Export Group and develop international markets for Agropur’s products.

“The acquisition of MLI goes hand in hand with our desire to develop the export market. MLI’s expertise will see us significantly accelerate our development as well as access very promising markets,” Agropur CEO Robert Coallier said at the time.

With more than 3,300 dairy producer members and 8,000 employees, Agropur processes nearly 13 billion pounds of milk annually at its 39 plants in North America and had reported sales of C$5.9 billion in 2015. Last year was largely devoted to significant investment in manufacturing infrastructure — totaling C$280 million, a record high for Agropur — and to consolidation and integration of the merger and acquisitions made in 2014 and 2015.

Now one of the areas Agropur is focused on for its future growth is building its OKA brand both in Canada and abroad. To achieve the ambitious growth targets set for OKA cheese and the co-op as a whole, Agropur in the last couple of years has spent C$45 million on a marketing campaign in Canada and on modernization of the equipment at its OKA plant. A new line was installed and commissioned last October. Moulding, demoulding and mould handling are now fully automated on the state-of-the-art line, the cooperative says.

“We successfully met the greatest challenge: to modernize the equipment without altering the authentic flavor of OKA cheese,” Agropur says in its 2015 annual report.

OKA volume is up by more than 50 percent in the last couple of years, propelled in part by increased exposure through OKA-­based recipes, the annual report also notes.

OKA has the unique distinction of being both a cheese and a brand name, Larivee says. The cheese is a semi-soft washed rind cheese that originally was made by Trappist monks located in Oka, Quebec. The cheese, made from cow’s milk, has a pungent aroma and soft creamy flavor and has a copper-orange, hand-washed rind.

The OKA brand includes other cheeses as well, including Crème OKA, OKA Light, OKA with Mushrooms, OKA Raclette and OKA L’Artisan, which combines the renowned traditional OKA taste with the flavor and distinct look of a European-style honeycombed cheese. OKA L’Artisan won a first-place award at the Sélection Caseus contest in 2015.

Meanwhile, the latest addition to the OKA cheese family, OKA L’Artisan Smoke, is a response to the growing popularity of smoked products. Long-ripening OKA Frère Alphonse and Maillon Fort, a soft cheese inspired by specialty French Bries, also were launched in 2015.

Agropur already exports to more than 40 countries, including the United States, but the biggest category has been dairy ingredients. To move more into the retail cheese market, Larivee says the co-op will be focusing on the specialty cheeses on which it can best compete. Agropur already owns several cheese plants in the United States — and makes award-winning cheese at those plants. The intent of the company is not to compete with itself, but rather to expand its presence. He notes that Agropur’s U.S. holdings aren’t specialty retail oriented.

“We will focus on our unique products,” Larivee says, adding Agropur will start with about 15 exports from Canada. In addition to the OKA line, other cheeses that will be exported to the United States include Chèvre des Alpes, a goat’s milk cheese that is available in original as well as a number of flavored varieties including pepper, cranberries and maple syrup, and fine herbs.

Another export possibility is Champfleury, a unique washed-rind soft cheese with a creamy and unctuous texture enveloped in a coppery orange rind that has a pronounced bouquet and fruity flavor.

“We have very good products. We want people to taste them. We are geared for growth,” Larivee says.

“We are the largest specialty cheese producers in Canada, and we are well-positioned for marketing abroad,” he says.

Agropur also plans to export its award-winning Cheddar, aged between one and five years, to the United States. He believes the cheese will compete well in the U.S. market.

To get the word out about Agropur’s products, Larivee has spent the bulk of his time this year further developing U.S. contacts. Agropur had booths at both the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s show and at the Fancy Food Shows, and contacts were very favorable, Larivee says. Additionally, Agropur is appointing U.S. distributors and is in direct discussions with supermarket chains.

“We are hoping to have our products in U.S. markets by the end of the year,” Larivee says. “2017 will be a big year of movement for us.”

The launches will be supported by promotions and marketing dollars, he adds.

After the U.S. roll out, Larivee says Agropur also plans to use this marketing model to roll out its specialty cheese products in export markets beyond the United States.

CMN