Why Europeans Are Suddenly Snapping Up Cheap American Cheese

The Netherlands has emerged as a major buyer of processed U.S. cheese that comes in slices and is used in burgers.

Kraft Heinz Co. Kraft band American cheese is arranged for a photograph in Brooklyn Borough of New York, U.S., on Friday, July 24, 2020. Kraft Heinz Co. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 30.Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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Europe, famed for its delicious gouda, brie and mozzarella, is facing shortfalls of milk. As a result, it’s buying up more U.S. cheese — the cheap, processed kind.

Take the Netherlands, for example, whose imports of U.S. cheese skyrocketed according to the latest government data. They mostly bought commodity cheese, the kind used as slices atop burgers.