The Cheddar block price at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as of Wednesday, February 11, 2015, stood at $1.5300 a pound,down one-half cent from last Friday and down 57.5 cents from a year ago. Since the beginning of 2015, the CME Cheddar block price has ranged from a low of $1.47 per pound to a high of $1.59 a pound. By comparison, in 2014, the Cheddar block price averaged over $2.00 per pound in each of the first five months of the year, en route to averaging almost $2.11 per pound for the entire year. Mozzarella is priced above that block Cheddar price, by varying amounts, and tracks the block Cheddar price movements closely.

In its monthly supply-demand estimates released Tuesday, Feb. 10, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) again projected that cheese prices in 2015 will average more than 50 cents per pound lower than they averaged in 2014. Thus, pizza makers can expect lower, possibly much lower, cheese prices this year, compared to last year’s record-high prices. But it should be remembered that cheese prices have been extremely volatile and unpredictable in recent years. Just since 2010, monthly average CME Cheddar block prices have ranged from under $1.30 per pound to over $2.35 per pound. 

Pizza makers who are interested in following the daily ups and downs of cheese prices, as well as reviewing past prices, can visit www.cheeseporter.com.

Stay in touch with PMQ.com for the latest information on cheese prices.

Dick Groves has been covering the cheese and dairy industries for the Cheese Reporter since 1978. He has been the newspaper’s editor since 1985 and publisher/editor since 1989.