Cheese production revisited – Novel and overlooked strategies for improving efficiency and sustainability of cheese manufacturing

The dairy industry faces increasing pressure to enhance sustainability and efficiency while maintaining product quality. Fermented dairy products, particularly cheese, present unique challenges related to slow ripening, phage-related fermentation failures, and underutilized byproducts such as whey. Innovation is essential to address these issues, yet widespread adoption remains limited. This review focuses on practical, science-based strategies to improve traditional cheese fermentation and ripening. It summarizes current bottlenecks and introduces emerging and overlooked technologies that may offer cost-effective and scalable solutions. Several promising approaches are identified, including the use of superior autolytic starter cultures to enhance flavor release, pH modulation of the cheese rind to accelerate surface ripening, and encapsulation of starter lactic acid bacteria to prevent phage-related fermentation failure. In addition, non-acidic production of buttery aroma compounds offers a viable alternative for small-scale dairies, while microbial valorization and extraction of protein from whey can improve resource utilization and cheese yield. The review highlights how these innovations can improve sustainability, reduce costs, and help dairies remain competitive, provided that the sector overcomes its reliance on conventional methods and embraces more adaptive, forward-looking practices. • Superior autolytic starters offer a promising route to accelerate cheese ripening. • Raising rind pH leads to faster surface ripening by boosting microbial and enzymatic activities. • Encapsulating SLAB can help prevent fermentation failure due to phages. • Butter aroma can be made with lactate dehydrogenase deficient L. lactis strains and suits small-scale dairy production. • Whey proteins can be incorporated in cheese and boost cheese yield.