Chile cheese market

Chile is the sixth largest cheese market in the Americas. Zenith puts consumption at more than 190,000 tonnes in 2025, or around 10 kg per person.

Zenith expects consumption to grow by close to 3% a year to 2030, passing 220,000 tonnes.

Hard and semi-hard cheeses, led by gouda-type cheese, make up most of Chilean consumption. Domestic production covers most demand, and imports supply around 30%, giving Chile one of the more open cheese markets in South America.

The Zenith Global Cheese Database 2026 covers Chile with production, imports, exports and consumption for 39 cheese types, actuals from 2020 to 2025 and forecasts to 2030. Volume data covers totals, broad categories and separately measured cheese types, in tonnes. Consumer retail value covers total cheese only, in local currency and USD; import and export trade values cover HS 0406 total only, in USD. Monetary values are not broken down by individual cheese type or broad category. Retail shelf prices cover total cheese and five broad categories: hard and semi-hard, fresh, mould, processed, and other non-specified cheese, in local currency/kg and USD/kg, not individual prices for all 39 cheese types. Import and export unit prices cover HS 0406 total and available HS subheadings, in USD/kg. Retail value is estimated retail volume multiplied by regular shelf prices, including sales tax. Trade values are customs values, using CIF for imports and FOB for exports. Production is measured as formally manufactured cheese.