Fonterra, a global leader in dairy nutrition, said its foodservice business Anchor Food Professionals, has launched a new soft style cream cheese to provide more versatility and convenience for its customers in the Middle East.

 Anchor Food Professionals has offices and distributors in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon, as well as an innovation centre in Dubai and a manufacturing facility in Dammam.

The Soft Style Cream Cheese offers a richer, delicious cream cheese flavour, better bake stability and softer texture, and is part of Anchor Food Professionals’ strategy to capitalise on changing consumer trends in the Middle East including a shift towards premiumisation, said a senior official.

"We’ve developed our new Soft Style Cream Cheese especially for the Middle East region, to meet local chefs’ preferences to work with a softer style of cream cheese without losing its full dairy flavour," remarked Alastair Bruce, the general manager, GCC for Anchor Food Professionals.

The cheese was launched at a series of workshops from September to October attended by around 50 pastry chefs and customers which provided insights and technical knowledge to create new and innovative cream cheese recipes.

The workshops were led by world-renowned pastry chef and Anchor Food Professionals Ambassador Jean-Francois Arnaud (JFA) and Anchor Food Professionals Regional Senior Advisory Chef, Manfred Kohlen.

"With rising incomes and rapid growth of out-of-home dining, food and beverage operators are increasingly seeking premium dairy solutions to meet the demand for excellence, convenience and great taste – but at the same time, affordability," observed Bruce.

Anchor Soft Style Cream Cheese is manufactured locally in Fonterra’s Dammam manufacturing facility, which also enables shorter delivery times to its customers.

"This week’s demonstration workshop is the latest in a series of training sessions held at our innovation centre in Dubai, where our sales team and advisory chef – together with Chef JFA – offer training and education to commercial chefs and kitchen staff to help support foodservice growth," stated Bruce.

Through these workshops, Anchor Food Professionals has trained numerous chefs in the Middle East, improving their culinary skills in line with commercial demand, he added.-TradeArabia News Service