Hybrid cheese: the smart cheese solution for a more sustainable food industry
Less dairy. Less CO2. The same cheese experience.
The food industry faces major challenges:
Rising milk prices
Stricter sustainability targets
Changing consumer preferences
With Tasty Melt® Hybrid, St. Paul bridges traditional dairy and fully plant-based alternatives: dairy and non-dairy ingredients are combined into a single cheese matrix, fully tailored to your product and process. Where fully plant-based cheese alternatives often fall short on taste, melt behaviour, and structure, Tasty Melt® Hybrid offers the best of both worlds: the familiar taste and functionality of cheese, with less animal dairy and a smaller CO2 footprint.
Tasty Melt® Hybrid was developed to deliver the same performance as conventional processed cheese:
Excellent melting properties and natural stretch
Homogeneous texture
Adjustable viscosity and structure
Consistent performance in production, preparation, baking, grilling, frying, and reheating
Less dairy, smaller CO2 footprint
Depending on the recipe, significant CO2 reduction is possible
Taste, texture, and functionality are preserved
Meets growing demand for plant-based alternatives
More control over costs and raw materials
The global dairy market is subject to strong price fluctuations. The hybrid composition provides more flexibility:
More control over cost price
Access to alternative raw material streams
A more flexible supply chain
For industrial production
Predictable processing, scalable from pilot phase to full production
Adjustable viscosity and structure, consistent product quality
Can be integrated into existing production processes without extensive adaptations
Fully tailored to your application
No application is the same. That’s why St. Paul develops every hybrid cheese solution to measure. Tasty Melt® Hybrid is suitable for, among others: pizza; snacks; ready meals; baked goods; meat products. Together, we determine the optimal balance between functionality, sustainability, and cost price, matched to your production process and end product.
Melting point
Texture
Application
Non-Melt hard
Retains its shape when heated. Can be grated, cut, and diced.
Potato gratin, cheese sausages
Semi-Melt hard
Hard cheese that softens but doesn't melt fully.
Meat dishes such as cordon bleu, ready meals such as lasagne
Yes. Tasty Melt® Hybrid was developed for reliable, efficient industrial processing and can be integrated into existing production processes without extensive adaptations — with predictable processing and consistent product quality.
Get in touch with St. Paul’s specialists via the contact form on this page. They’re happy to think along with you about the optimal balance between functionality, sustainability, and cost price, matched to your production process.
This depends on the chosen recipe: the greater the proportion of non-dairy ingredients, the more significant the possible CO2 reduction. St. Paul’s specialists are happy to calculate with you what’s feasible for your specific application.
In 11 kg blocks, sausages (Ø 40–120 mm), grated or diced (2–7 kg bags), as strips/cubes/sticks/ropes (IQF, 2–7 kg bags), and as a liquid in bags of 5–10 kg.
No. Tasty Melt® Hybrid combines dairy with plant-based and non-dairy ingredients, and therefore still contains animal dairy. It is not a 100% plant-based or vegan product. It is intended as an intermediate step that reduces animal ingredients, not one that fully replaces them.
Among others, pizza, snacks, ready meals, baked goods, and meat products. Each solution is developed to measure, with a melting point and structure that suit your end product — from Non-Melt hard to High-Melt soft.
Hybrid cheese combines traditional dairy proteins with high-quality non-dairy ingredients into a single cheese matrix. By combining dairy proteins such as casein with high-quality plant-based oils, enzyme-modified cheese (EMC) for a natural cheese flavour, and, where needed, plant-based proteins or starches, it offers the functionality and performance of processed cheese — but with less animal dairy and a smaller CO2 footprint.
Fully plant-based cheese alternatives often fall short on taste, melt behaviour, and structure. Hybrid cheese combines the best of both worlds: the familiar cheese experience of dairy, with part of it replaced by plant-based and non-dairy ingredients to reduce environmental impact.
Why St. Paul?
For over 40 years, St. Paul has been developing innovative cheese solutions for the international food industry.
With our expertise in cheese functionality, product development, and industrial processes, we support you at every step of the development process. Together, we develop a hybrid cheese solution perfectly suited to your product, your production process, and your market.
Get in touch with St. Paul’s specialists. We’re happy to think along with you about a hybrid cheese solution that suits your application, your production process, and your sustainability goals.
