TikTok Didn't Sell Cottage Cheese: It Sold Certainty, Forcing Investments into Millions
Some products don’t die; they just wait for a narrative to bring them back to relevance. Cottage cheese, a refrigerator staple steeped in 80s nostalgia and years of decline, found its resurgence where one would least expect it for such a basic food: on TikTok. The hashtag #cottagecheese was trending towards one billion views by early 2024, according to reports cited by the British media. When attention turns into replicable recipes, demand shifts from a wish to a purchase order.
In Scotland, Graham's The Family Dairy, the largest independent dairy in the country, reacted like any serious company would when the market calls: they invested in CAPEX, modernized plants, and prepared to produce more. The key point isn’t that "TikTok made cottage cheese trendy." The key point is that sales increased by 40% in 12 months, accounting for two million additional kilos per year, with retailers like Tesco reporting a 200% increase in demand. Such magnitude cannot be managed with pretty posts or weekend promotions; it demands industrial capacity, supply chain management, and margin decisions.
However, Graham's move also exposes a tension that few wish to acknowledge: trend-driven growth can be brutal in volume while being fragile in profitability, especially under inflationary pressure. For the fiscal year ending March 2025, the company reported revenues of £154.9 million (slightly up from £153.4 million), while its operating profit before taxes fell to £2.6 million from £4.5 million. The message for any CEO and CFO is clear: if your product explodes in popularity and your margin shrinks, your advantage isn’t fame; it’s your offer architecture and execution.
Virality Worked Because It Reduced Friction and Made the Product "Multi-use"
Cottage cheese didn’t boom due to empty claims of being “high in protein.” It surged because people saw, in short and repeatable formats, how to incorporate it into their lives: pancakes, bread, cookies, ice cream, whipped versions, and combinations that elevated it from “diet food” to a base ingredient. Here lies the crux: TikTok didn’t just generate reach; it generated operational certainty. When millions watch the same preparation with the same result, the main objection disappears: “I don’t know how to use this.”
This shift represents a change in perception. Marks & Spencer even referred to cottage cheese as an “unlikely protein hero,” and their buyers noted a continuous decline until 2023, with surprising growth in the past year. When a premium retailer validates the phenomenon with strong, sustained growth, it signals that consumption isn’t just a fleeting spark.
For Graham's, the technical detail matters: the company uses a traditional method with an open vat, resulting in a firmer, more structured curd. Translated to market language, this means more culinary uses without the product “breaking.” On social media, that structure translates into texture, which results in repeat purchases.
The business takeaway is straightforward: viral content that drives demand doesn’t just “inspire”; it instructs. It doesn’t sell from aspiration; it sells from replicability. When the recipe works, the customer feels control, and the product ceases to be a risk. Virality served as the channel; conversion was made possible by certainty of outcome.
CAPEX Against Bottlenecks: When Marketing Forces You to Engage the Factory
Graham's was at capacity limits when demand exploded. At this point, growth is no longer just a marketing issue; it becomes an industrial engineering and investment priority. The company invested £3.2 million in modernizing its manufacturing sites in Nairn and Cowdenbeath over the last fiscal year, following £5 million in 2024 and £8.4 million in 2023. Additionally, there was mention of a £5 million plan specifically to bolster cottage cheese production facilities.
This pattern of investment reveals a correct reading: if the market gives you a surge in volume, your enemy is delay. When the customer wants to buy and you can’t produce, demand turns into frustration, and frustration leads to switching to another brand. In a low-involvement category like dairy, the cost of switching is nearly zero.
There is also an uncomfortable consequence: industrial CAPEX does not have the elasticity of digital marketing. A production line cannot be turned on and off with a button. Therefore, betting on capacity requires careful judgment: the phenomenon must be persistent enough or convertible into a broader portfolio. Fortunately for Graham's, they played a smart card, at least according to reports: they didn’t just stop at cottage cheese. They launched a line of protein ice creams and developed new exclusive products for Tesco, while expanding distribution with retailers like Waitrose, Sainsbury's, and Booths.
The implicit strategy is clear: if the peak of a trend flattens, the investment does not turn into waste because capacity and retailer relationships can be redirected. CAPEX ceases to depend on a single product and instead transforms into a platform.
Growing Without Raising Prices: The Decision That Purchases Loyalty and Sells Margin
Graham's financial numbers reveal the real cost of "protecting the consumer." The company attributed the decline in profits to absorbing inflationary pressures rather than fully passing them onto prices. An impact of £1.9 million was reported on profit to avoid price increases for customers. Managing director Robert Graham explained that the price of milk at the source rose from 36 pence per liter in April 2024 to 40 pence in March 2025, alongside increases in ingredients, packaging, and the National Living Wage.
Operationally, this means they sold more but earned less per unit, or that the cost mix moved faster than the ability to adjust prices. But this decision is not irrational. In high-frequency categories, price is memory: when you raise it without justification, customers retaliate by abandoning your product. Conversely, absorbing some inflation can buy ongoing purchase continuity and market share, especially when demand is soaring and availability is critical.
That said, this tactic has limits. If demand is strong, the market is willing to pay for more than just calories: they’re paying for convenience, perceived health, and versatility. In that context, competing solely by “not raising prices” is only halfway there. Margins can’t recover through hope but through an offer that elevates willingness to pay without breaking trust.
What Graham's has in its favor is a rare asset: massive social proof and a product reframed as a functional ingredient. Additionally, coverage highlights that an 85-year-old family doctor has garnered followers on his own TikTok channel, reinforcing the brand’s modern appeal. If that presence translates into consistent demonstrations of usage and benefits, it’s not just “friendly branding”; it’s reduction of perceived risk.
The takeaway for leaders is simple: when inflation cuts into margins, there are two paths. Either chase volume at any cost and suffocate under costs, or turn the peak of demand into a value ladder with clear reasons to pay more.
The Handbook for Capturing a Trend Without Becoming Its Hostage
The cottage cheese boom illustrates a pattern that will repeat with other “old” products that social networks repackage as new: the channel accelerates demand, but the winner is the one who turns that acceleration into a system. Graham's acted on three fronts that, when combined, prevent the trend from being mere smoke.
First, capacity. Without capacity, all conversation is irrelevant. Millions of views don’t fill shelves. The accumulated investments in modernization and expansion indicate a basic understanding: viral demand is monetized through operations.
Second, distribution and agreements. Expanding presence in premium retailers and working on exclusivities with a giant like Tesco isn’t just a commercial detail; it’s a practical barrier against competitors. The trend creates first-time buyers, and the retailer decides which brand is available when impulse turns into routine.
Third, portfolio. The company didn’t just expand cottage cheese; it also launched protein ice cream and developed new products. This matters because virality is volatile, but infrastructure and contracts are rigid. If the company can move customers from “cottage cheese for a recipe” to “dairy protein line” as a habit, then the peak becomes the base.
The risk remains: if the market saturates or another narrative displaces cottage cheese, the extra capacity must be reassigned swiftly. Therefore, the strategic angle isn’t merely chasing trends; it's designing an offering that can survive them. Practically speaking, that means packaging that facilitates use, formats that minimize waste, consistent texture for recipes, and messaging that doesn’t promise miracles but replicable outcomes.
The market has already signaled: when a product can be demonstrated in 20 seconds and the result feels achievable, willingness to pay increases, and purchases accelerate. Commercial success, whether in dairy or software, ultimately boils down to the same discipline: reduce friction, maximize perceived certainty of results, and elevate willingness to pay with a value proposition so solid that saying no becomes a poor economic decision.
