Mozzarella & Cheddar for Industry (Low-Moisture Blocks, IQF Shredded, Cheddar for Processing)

Low-moisture mozzarella blocks, IQF shredded mozzarella and 20 kg cheddar blocks for pizza lines and processed cheese plants

Industrial cheese is bought by what it has to do on the line. Pizza mozzarella is low-moisture pasta filata cheese: Codex CXS 262-2006 describes it as a firm, semi-hard homogeneous cheese without holes, suitable for shredding, with milkfat in dry matter of 18% minimum against a 40-50% reference level, and permits rice, corn and potato flours and starches as anti-caking agents on cut, sliced and shredded low-moisture mozzarella; the US standard puts low-moisture mozzarella above 45% and at most 52% moisture (21 CFR 133.156). It is sold as blocks for the buyer's own shredding and dicing, which one Belgian producer packs as four 2.5 kg blocks of 40%+ mozzarella in a 10 kg carton, or as IQF shreds and dice frozen piece by piece, which one foodservice range packs as 6 x 2 kg and holds at -18 °C or colder. Cheddar for processing is the base cheese for processed cheese: Codex CXS 263-1966 sets cheddar at 22% milkfat in dry matter minimum with a 48-60% reference level and 61% minimum dry matter in that band, and lets cheddar intended for further processing be less ripened. One New Zealand producer's GDT specification for young cheddar for processing holds moisture at 39.0% maximum, fat at 31.0-39.0%, pH at 5.05-5.60 after 72 hours and salt at 1.40-2.25%, in 20 kg vacuum-packed blocks stored at 4 °C with an 18-month best-before; its frozen grade is frozen within 72 hours of manufacture to arrest protein breakdown. Mozzarella is declared as fresh cheese under HS 0406.10, cheddar under 0406.90, and grated or powdered cheese of all kinds under 0406.20. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 0406.10, which covers all fresh cheese, total USD 11.46 billion, led by Germany at USD 2.48 billion, Italy at USD 2.05 billion and Denmark at USD 1.07 billion, with the USA at USD 586 million and New Zealand at USD 364 million; HS 0406.90 totals USD 24.56 billion, led by the Netherlands at USD 4.26 billion and Germany at USD 3.22 billion, with Ireland at USD 1.22 billion, the USA at USD 1.01 billion and New Zealand at USD 834 million and 190,000 MT.

The buyer is a pizza chain or its commissary, a frozen pizza or ready-meal plant, a foodservice distributor, a processed cheese maker buying cheddar as its base, or an importer supplying all of them. Comtrade 2024 import declarations under HS 0406.10 show Japan, South Korea and China at USD 363-389 million and 76,000-79,000 MT each and Saudi Arabia at USD 170 million and 45,000 MT, and under 0406.90 Japan at USD 808 million, Mexico at USD 655 million and Saudi Arabia at USD 353 million. Both cheeses have price references: at the Global Dairy Trade event of 15 September 2026 cheddar averaged USD 4,075/MT, up 16.5%, all of it New Zealand young and frozen cheddar, and mozzarella USD 3,992/MT, down 6.0%, from Western European sellers, while the EU average cheddar price reported to the European Commission for the week ending 13 September 2026 was EUR 322 per 100 kg. For halal markets the coagulant is specified as microbial coagulant, fermentation-produced chymosin (FPC) or rennet from a halal-certified source, and the halal certificate covers the coagulant, cultures, any lipase and other additives; the New Zealand cheddar specifications above list a microbial coagulating enzyme and halal certification. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers mozzarella and cheddar from dairy co-operatives and cheese makers in New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, France, Belgium, Poland, Italy, the UK, the USA and Australia, against the maker's specification and certificate of analysis. Blocks move chilled or frozen and IQF cheese frozen, in reefer containers at the temperature on the specification; New Zealand, EU and US cheese travels on the origin authority's dairy health certificate in the destination's format, and for Saudi Arabia the exporter is registered with the SFDA, the product is registered through the importer's SFDA account and reefers meet GSO 323. Terms are FCA, FOB, CFR or CIF, and minimum lots are confirmed per product and pack. Send the cheese, fat and moisture, block or IQF, the coagulant and halal requirement, the monthly volume and the destination port.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.