What is Dr. Cheese?

Mondo Gastronomy Updated on 2024-02-01

Dr. Cheese brand 30 upgrade brand vision.

If there is a common development law in the global dairy industry, it is "milk powder-liquid milk-cheese". In the United Kingdom and the United States, cheese accounts for % of the value of dairy products, respectively; In Japan and South Korea, the figure is also around 30%; In China, it's just 2 percent. [1] This means that the potential size of China's cheese consumption market is huge, which is why it has been called "the last big track of China's dairy products".

However, there are bound to be strong people on such a track, including many Chinese and foreign dairy giants such as Miaokelando, Bajifu, Yili, and Guangming, but Dr. Cheese can show his edge in it. During the "Double 11" period in 2021, the total sales of online omni-channels exceeded 100 million yuan, and from January to September 2022, Dr. Cheese achieved cumulative sales of more than 200 million on the dual platforms of Douyin and Kuaishou. From 2021 to 2023, Dr. Cheese has won the first place in high-end cheese sales for two consecutive years. [2]

In November 2022, Dr. Cheese spent one billion yuan to build the first "Gigafactory", which is a cheese factory where raw cheese and processed cheese can be produced in a unified manner. [3] This is Dr. Cheese's transformation from asset-light to asset-heavy, and it is also the brand's 30 upgrade, since then the brand products will cover people of all ages, and strive to "break down" the industry.

What is Dr. Cheese? As a cutting-edge brand founded in 2019, why can it run wild on the Chinese cheese track and grow into a dark horse that cannot be ignored? In this article, let's find out.

Directory. 1. About Dr. Cheese.

2. How is "No. 1 in high-end cheese sales" made?

3. Some new products in 2023.

Fourth, other main products.

5. Financing. 6. Awards.

7. Recommended reading.

8. Reference**.

About Dr. Cheese.

1) Brand introduction.

Dr. Cheese logo

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Shanghai, Dr. Cheese hopes to create high-end, professional, and nutritious real cheese for Chinese families with a "parental heart, curiosity, and competitive spirit".

In May 2020, Dr. Cheese's first product, "Xiaoyuan Cheese", was launched, bringing 100% original cheese to Chinese consumers, and was welcomed by novice parents as soon as it was launched. Since then, Dr. Cheese has launched new products almost every month, and the product categories are mainly original cheeses, and the main products are currently children's cheese sticks, small round cheese, small square cheese, cheese sandwich seaweed crisp and other products.

In 2021, Dr. Cheese entered the fast lane of development, and the total online omni-channel sales during the "Double 11" period exceeded 100 million yuan, and the sales volume was 15 times that of the same period in 2020. [4] From January to September 2022, Dr. Cheese achieved cumulative sales of more than 200 million on the Douyin Kuaishou dual platform. [5]

In November 2022, Dr. Cheese's first factory was completed in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, and the brand positioning has also expanded from "specializing in real cheese for babies aged 0-6" to cover people of all ages.

b) Founder.

Dr. Cheese founder and CEO Yuhua Chen.

Sequoia Hui.

Yuhua Chen, Founder and CEO of Dr. Cheese. In the industry and ** reports, he also has another name that makes people feel very affectionate - Lao Chen.

Prior to founding Dr. Cheese, Mr. Chen worked in the dairy industry for more than 10 years, working his way up to senior management in well-known foreign companies. A skiing accident a few years ago caused Lao Chen to accidentally break his leg, but it also started his indissoluble bond with cheese. At that time, foreign friends half-jokingly persuaded him to supplement calcium with more cheese, which also aroused Lao Chen's attention to this familiar but unknown food.

Since then, Lao Chen has often traveled back and forth to Europe, indulging in the study of various cheeses. One afternoon in 2018, it occurred to Lao Chen that why not bring more cheese to more Chinese consumers? Since then, he has made up his mind and started the road of "entrepreneurship at an advanced age". [6]

3) Brand IP image.

The main image of Dr. Cheese IP.

Dr. Cheese hopes to convey to consumers the category and professionalism of the brand through the brand vision.

Those who see Dr. Cheese's products must be impressed by the image of Dr. Cheese wearing a white coat and a small blue bow tie on the packaging. He always had a smile on his face that brought on from the pride he felt at the product, holding cheese and other different products of Dr. Cheese in his arms.

If you take a closer look at Dr. Cheese's IP, you will find that the image of Dr. Cheese is somewhat similar to the founder of the brand, but in fact, it is customized based on Lao Chen's own image. According to Dr. Cheese, as more new products are launched, Dr. will hold more new products in the future. [7]

How did you come to be the No. 1 seller of high-end cheese?

1) Product-oriented: make higher-end and rare original cheese.

Founder Lao Chen believes that the second most important decision made by Dr. Cheese is to decide to make original cheese and cheese sticks that account for more than 50% of cheese without adding a drop of water. [1]

Actually, cheese = cottage cheese, they are both different translations of the English word "cheese". The real difference is between natural cheese and processed cheese. The original cheese is made of milk as raw material, lactic acid bacteria and rennet enzyme are added, and then coagulated and fermented. Processed cheese is made by crushing, melting and emulsifying natural cheese, and even adding other ingredients to improve taste, reduce costs and extend shelf life. [8]

Before the advent of Dr. Cheese, the Chinese cheese market was dominated by processed cheese. Although the original cheese is known as "milk**", it takes about 10kg of milk to make 1kg of original cheese, and compared with processed cheese, it is relatively rich in unsaturated fatty acids and minerals, but the price is generally higher. At the same time, there are also many people who are worried that in the domestic market, where the acceptance of cheese is already slightly low, the original cheese does not meet the taste and eating habits of the Chinese people.

Dr. Cheese small round cheese.

But Dr. Cheese believes that if you want to do it, you need to make a "ceiling" product, so he firmly chose the original cheese. After a year, in May 2020, Dr. Cheese's first product "Small Round Cheese" was launched, focusing on low salt and high calcium, using 100% Dutch imported cheese.

Because it is rich in nutrients, the ingredient list is clean, and it is high in calcium and low in sodium (the ratio of calcium to sodium is as high as 16), "small round cheese" is more in line with the baby's dietary needs. At that time, the domestic original cheese market was almost in a vacuum, and "Xiaoyuan Cheese" won the recognition of a new generation of parents by virtue of its strong product power, helping Dr. Cheese to make a name for himself and go down first.

Next, Dr. Cheese chose to enter the main battlefield of the cheese circuit - cheese sticks. At that time, China's cheese products were dominated by children's cheese sticks, and the proportion of cottage cheese was only 15%. Dr. Cheese decided to follow the American standard and make cheese sticks with 51% cottage cheese. After half a year, the product was finally successfully developed. In January 2021, Dr. Cheese's cheese sticks were sought after upon their launch, and sales exceeded 10 million that year. [1]

The success of high-quality products has also contributed to the development of national regulations and standards, and the new national standard for cheese, which came into effect on December 30, 2022, stipulates that the proportion of cheese used in processed cheese should be greater than 50%.

In addition to a few ace products, Dr. Cheese maintains a rate of new product launches almost every month. In the future, Dr. Cheese also hopes to make product innovation the foundation of the company. [1]

2) Lay out heavy assets and spend 1 billion yuan to build a "super factory".

In November 2022, Dr. Cheese's first self-built "super factory" in Chuzhou, Anhui Province was officially completed and put into operation. This is an intelligent and intensive single green intelligent factory, the first and second phases cover an area of nearly 200 acres, with 48 cheese lines and innovative dairy production lines, with a total investment of more than 1 billion yuan. According to Lao Chen, this is a cheese factory where the original cheese and processed cheese can be produced in a unified manner. [3]

Dr. Cheese Factory.

When founder Lao Chen decided to build the factory, it was only 10 months before Dr. Cheese's products left the production line. At that time, Lao Chen found that the vast majority of all Chinese food and beverage companies listed on the A-share and Hong Kong stocks had built their own ** chains, while the top 5 companies in the cheese track were only Dr. Cheese without a factory.

Sooner or later, Dr. Cheese's factory must be built. The self-owned factory can enable Dr. Cheese to better ensure product quality, increase profits, lay the foundation for possible future to B business, and at the same time, it can also meet the imagination and creation of products in the future for Dr. Cheese, who focuses on product innovation. [1]

In fact, Dr. Cheese's new room temperature line products in 2023 are realized precisely because of the existence of the Chuzhou factory. Also at the Chuzhou factory, Dr. Cheese completed the taste improvement of Xiaoyuan cheese through the core debittering process. The production of "small round cheese", which has been produced in the Netherlands until now, will gradually be transferred to domestic factories. [3] Lao Chen believes that in the cheese industry, only by doing heavy work can you survive. He hopes that Dr. Cheese's self-built factory can help the brand "break down the industry". [3]

3) CSCS cheese graded high calcium system, highlighting professionalism.

One of the main lines of Dr. Cheese's brand building is to build consumers' awareness of its expertise in cheese making. Therefore, Dr. Cheese has put a lot of effort into embodying the professionalism of the brand.

In order to allow more consumers to easily and quickly understand how to choose the right cheese for their babies, Dr. Cheese referred to the segmented idea of maternal and infant milk powder, and proposed the Dr. Cheese CSCS Cheese Graded High Calcium System according to the different calcium needs of babies and children at different growth ages.

Dr. Cheese CSCS Cheese Fractional High Calcium System.

On the left side of the bone-like super symbol is the stage at which the product is recommended to be consumed, and on the right is the calcium nutrient element around the core of the cheese, the refined cheese ratio, the calcium-sodium ratio and the milk-calcium ratio. The higher the value, the higher the calcium content and the better the quality of the cheese.

The introduction of the step-by-step system reflects the professionalism of Dr. Cheese and allows consumers to understand the value of the product more directly. At the same time, it also saves the time of selection for today's parents who pay attention to refined feeding, and simplifies it so that they can "follow the numbers" to choose products. Even, this has the potential to become one of the future directions of innovation in Chinese cheese. [9] To this end, Dr. Cheese also reorganized its product line, launching upgraded products such as seaweed crisp and cheese puree, focusing on key target customers and consolidating the brand positioning.

4) Sales channels: online and offline parallel.

In terms of the laying of sales channels, Dr. Cheese adopts the model of online and offline parallel lines. At the beginning of the brand's launch, Dr. Cheese has established cooperation with some professional vertical communities, maternal and infant communities and KOL resources with the strong product power of "Xiaoyuan Cheese". After that, Dr. Cheese focused on operating online platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin, and became a number of TOP1 in the "Double Eleven" Tmall cheese category, Jingdong butter category, and Douyin baby food category in 21 years. [9]

Dr. Cheese joins hands with Hema Black Label Store to launch a new product.

Although it started with online channels, Dr. Cheese is extending its main battlefield from online to offline, focusing on the layout of offline channels.

According to the founder Lao Chen, Dr. Cheese began to fully deploy offline channels one year after it was launched. [4] Initially, Dr. Cheese chose boutique supermarkets such as Hisamitsu, Aeon, and Ito-Yokado that matched their customer base, as well as imported supermarkets such as Greenland; Later, it continued to expand to fresh retail supermarkets such as Hema and Yonghui. At the end of 2021, Dr. Cheese began to sink from the first- and second-tier core cities. [9]

In the May 2023 report, Dr. Cheese already has about 1,000 distributors in first, second and third-tier cities. Among the major offline sales systems in the country, Dr. Cheese is the fourth brand in the industry to complete the full line of sales, and the current sales volume of offline channels accounts for 1 3 of the total sales. [4]

Some new products for 2023.

a) Cheese runny cod intestines.

Dr. Cheese Cheese Flowing Cod Intestines.

On April 6, 2023, Dr. Cheese launched a new cheese runny cod sausage. [10]

The cheese cod intestine is made exclusively from deep-sea Alaskan cod and refuses to mix surimi. After 400,000 times of high-speed vacuum mixing, each cod intestine is smooth and easier to chew. In addition to the DHA that comes with deep-sea cod, the cheese cod intestine is specially added with DHA algae oil.

The center of the cod sausage is infused with a high-calcium cheese sauce specially developed by Dr. Cheese, which contains 70% imported cheese and a rich cheese aroma. The calcium content and protein content of cod intestine per 100g of cheese runny are 4 of the same amount of milk, respectively3 times and 34 times. Each cheese cod sausage is individually sealed for room temperature storage and easy to carry.

b) Fruit cheese puree.

Dr. Cheese Fruit Cheese Puree.

On April 20, 2023, Dr. Cheese Fruit Cheese Puree (Pineapple Banana Flavor) will be released. [11]

The product is imported from Spain, carefully selected Ecuadorian bananas and Costa Rican pineapples as raw materials, finely ground into fruit puree; Combined with the preferred 0-fat Spanish quark cheese, the cheese content is 51%, containing high calcium and high protein; And there is no additional sugar, salt, flavor, preservatives, coloring, etc.

Dr. Cheese Fruit Cheese Puree is packaged with low-temperature pasteurization + 4-layer fresh-locking, which can be stored at room temperature for 12 months with 0 preservatives and is easy to carry.

c) High-calcium cheese sticks.

Dr. Cheese high-calcium cheese sticks.

On July 19, 2023, Dr. Cheese's high-calcium cheese sticks, which focus on "no need to put in the refrigerator", were launched. [12] The product is available in two flavors: Plain and Sweet Strawberry.

In order to meet the needs of parents who can also carry cheese sticks with them when they take their children out to play, Dr. Cheese high-calcium cheese sticks have made a new upgrade of light-blocking packaging on the basis of not changing the flavor and nutrition, so that the cheese sticks are more suitable for room temperature and do not need to be refrigerated.

In addition to 55% cheese, this product also uses raw milk instead of water (14% raw milk), which not only contains the same amount of milk65 times more calcium, while also rich in vitamins A and D.

4) High-calcium cheese seasoning powder.

Dr. Cheese High Calcium Cheese Seasoning Powder.

On August 28, 2023, Dr. Cheese's "dry rice artifact" developed for a year and a half - high-calcium cheese seasoning powder was launched. [13]

The product is added with 53% of the cheese raw materials of the ace product "low-salt and high-calcium small round cheese", and is paired with whey powder imported from France, which has the nutritional attributes of high calcium and high protein, and contains 6 times the calcium content of milk, 77 times the protein content of milk. The microcapsulation technology makes the powder more delicate, which is easy to eat and improves the storage stability of cheese powder. No preservatives, sweeteners, monosodium glutamate, and sucrose are added during the production process; At the same time, it also has a low sodium attribute, and the sodium value of each cheese powder is controlled at only 97mg, compared to Dr. Cheese slices (51% cottage cheese), the sodium content is reduced by more than 59%.

On the packaging, the product adopts low-temperature pasteurization + 3-layer moisture-proof process to achieve 0 preservatives and can be stored at room temperature for 9 months. Individually packaged, tear and use, can be sprinkled, mixed or mixed, suitable for more baby meal scenes.

5) Small square cheese.

Dr. Cheese small square cheese.

Dr. Cheese Cheese was released on October 30, 2023, and is available in three flavors: Quadruple Berry, Sunshine Lemon, and Sweet Apple. [14]

Cheese Cubes is made from 51% New Zealand grass-fed milk-sourced cheese with 8% pure jam to combine the rich savoury flavours of cheese with the sweet, sour freshness of fruit. Among them, the four-berry fruity jam is preferably high-quality strawberries and raspberries from China, blueberries and cranberries imported from the United States; The Sunshine Lemon flavor uses a blend of Argentine yellow lemon + American lime; Sweet apple flavor selected from Shandong Yantai big apple. The product contains 24 times milk calcium, 22 times the milk protein, 5 pieces are less than an apple.

The aluminum foil sealed packaging + easy-to-tear strip design created by Italian packaging equipment not only ensures that the cheese is clean and sealed, but also brings convenience and a sense of ceremony.

6) "In the name of high calcium" series.

Dr. Cheese "In the Name of High Calcium" series of new products.

In December 2023, Dr. Cheese successively launched a series of new products "In the Name of High Calcium". As of press time, there are three products on the market: high-calcium cheese puffs, high-calcium cheese milk shells, and high-calcium cheese soft cakes. [15][16][17]

This series of new products are based on cheese powder made from Dr. Cheese's star product, low-salt, high-calcium small round cheese (calcium-sodium ratio of 16), which brings more friendly and well-absorbed 100% virgin milk calcium, and insists on no added sugar, edible salt, flavors, preservatives and artificial colors. In order to help calcium absorption, promote baby's brain development, and protect eye and gastrointestinal health, Dr. Cheese also specially added vitamin D, prebiotic DHA algal oil and lutein esters to the product.

Other main products.

a) Gold sticks.

Dr. Cheese Gold Sticks.

Dr. Cheese Gold is available in both plain and mixed fruit flavors. The product contains 55% cheese and 13% raw milk instead of water. Each 100g of gold sticks contains 700mg of calcium, which is 6 of the same amount of milk5 times, the protein content also reaches 62g。The Gold Bar is formulated with a dual vitamin of vitamin D + vitamin A to promote calcium absorption and help maintain dark vision.

b) Round cheese.

Dr. Cheese small round cheese.

Round cheese is Dr. Cheese's first product and the brand's star product.

It is an original cheese with 100% cheese content, only four ingredients in the ingredient list, 8 times the milk calcium content and 7 times the milk protein content, raw milk calcium milk protein, better absorption. The product adopts a low-salt formula, 16 times the ratio of calcium to sodium; 0 lactose, 0 total sugar, so that lactose intolerant, can not drink milk babies can also eat with confidence.

c) Platinum Nutrition Cheese Sticks.

Dr. Cheese Platinum Nutrition Cheese Sticks.

Dr. Cheese Platinum Nutrition Cheese Stick is selected from Danish imported cheese with an added amount of 66%; At the same time, rare A2-casein raw milk is also added, which is milder and more suitable for children; Formulated with vitamin D for better calcium absorption. The "double protection" and "double benefit" formula of this product adds DHA algal oil + lutein ester and probiotics (non-live bacteria) + prebiotics to care for the baby's brain, eyes and intestinal health, and does not add sucrose, preservatives and food flavors.

a2 casein cheese cubes.

Dr. Cheese A2 Casein Cheese Blocks.

Dr. Cheese A2 Casein Cheese Block Ingredients List is the first cheese, with an addition of 35%, with 20% of the rare A2-casein raw milk, which is more friendly to the baby's stomach, with 9 times the calcium content and 5 times the protein content of milk. Vitamin D is also specially added to promote calcium absorption; At the same time, lutein esters and prebiotics are added to support eye and intestinal health.

The product is available in two flavors, plain and blueberry, with the blueberry flavor added to the jam made from blueberries imported from the United States. -35 FD freeze-drying technology gives the product an ice crystal taste, melts quickly, and is not easy to get stuck in the throat and stick to teeth.

5) Cheese filled with seaweed crisp.

Dr. Cheese cheese filled with seaweed crispy.

Dr. Cheese Cheese Sandwich Seaweed Crisp is infused with 25% Danish cheese and 30% New Zealand milk powder, which makes the product contain milk29 times the calcium content and 54 times more protein, and no added colors, flavors, preservatives, or sugar. The product adopts low-temperature baking technology and controlled temperature baking, which retains the original flavor and nutrition of seaweed and cheese, and is crispy and delicious.

6) Small round cheese crisp.

Dr. Cheese small round cheese crispy.

Dr. Cheese Small Round Cheese Crispy Selection New Zealand Imported Gouda Cheese, with an added amount of 35% and a calcium content of 4 of milk2 times, the protein content is 5 times that of cow's milk2 times, with an additional addition of vitamin D to promote calcium absorption. The product does not add pigments, flavors, preservatives, white sugar, baked by baking technology, does not add additional oil, and the creamy flavor of the cheese is fully released after heating, which is healthy and crispy.

Financing. Because of its good market performance, Dr. Cheese has also gained the attention of capital, and has received three rounds of financing so far. [4]

Foodtalks is based on publicly available information on the Internet.

VCON Star Awards, M Awards, Mr. Beaver.

Recommended Reading: The first self-developed and self-produced "small square cheese", Dr. Cheese will launch a new one!

Dr. Cheese pushes a new cheese platter, and the Hema Black Label Store joint venture debuts.

The cheese track is surrounded by strong men, how Dr. Cheese fights his way out.

dr.Dr. Cheese New: Cheese Flowing Cod Sausage.

Real cheese and real fruit! 「dr.Dr. Cheese Fruit Cheese Puree |New Detectives.

Blockbuster |Dr. Cheese invests 1 billion to build a factory! Lao Chen, the founder of the brand: "Only by doing heavy can we survive".

1500% annual growth! Dr. Cheese challenges the 10 billion market with vision |Food Pack - Short**.

Dr. Cheese announces brand 30 upgrade bullet 1: positioning visual upgrade.

For more recommended reading, please scroll to the end of the article and click "Read More" to visit foodtalks**.

Reference**. 1] China Entrepreneur Magazine (2023), How Dr. Cheese Fights Around

2] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), No. 1 in high-end cheese sales for two consecutive years. 》

3] FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation (2022), Blockbuster |Dr. Cheese invests 1 billion to build a factory! Lao Chen, the founder of the brand: "Only by doing heavy can we survive".

4] Times**.com (2023), Chen Yuhua, Founder and CEO of Dr. Cheese: Make efforts to create offline channels to create the next hot style

5] FBIF Food & Beverage Innovation (2023), Will Today's Children's Yogurt Be Honors "Children's Cheese" Tomorrow? 》

6] Sequoia Hui (2022), Dr. Cheese's Growth: It's Better Than Better

7] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2021), the new Dr. Cheese debuts, I hope you like it. 》

8] Economic Life (2021), Processed cheese and original cheese are stupidly indistinguishable? The new rules of cheese help you choose".

9] foodplushub (2022), Why has Dr. Cheese become one of the fastest-growing food consumer goods companies in recent years? 》

10] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), Even making a cod intestine must be high in calcium! 》

11] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), real cheese and real fruit, and it was pinched again. 》

12] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), new products Don't put it in the refrigerator, you can show off anywhere

13] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), NEW I've been waiting for a long time, butter powder is attacking! 》

14] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), this should be the first small square cheese developed and produced by a Chinese brand and its own factory. 》

15] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), In the name of high calcium, puffs have a new choice. 》

16] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), in the name of high calcium, milk shells also have a new choice. 》

17] Dr. Cheese WeChat***2023), In the name of high calcium, small soft cakes are also here. 》

18] Innovation Observation Network (2023), The winners of the 2nd VCON Star Innovation Awards were announced, and the awards dinner ended wonderfully, witnessing the birth of the next super brand with you

19] Foodtalks (2022), Ali M Awards Annual Ceremony: Dr. Cheese Wins Business Dark Horse of the Year Award

20] Mr. Beaver (2020), Tmall Food Witnesses the Rise of Cutting-edge Brands! Mr. Beaver made his debut with "food" power and won the Food Rookie of the Year Award

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