Yes, there is a cottage cheese shortage, and it’s hitting some brands harder than others. Retail sales of cottage cheese jumped 20% from June 2024 to June 2025, and several producers have publicly acknowledged they can’t keep up with demand. The shortage isn’t uniform across all brands or stores, but if you’ve noticed empty shelves where your favorite cottage cheese used to be, you’re not imagining it.
Which Brands Are Affected
Good Culture, a brand that gained massive visibility through TikTok recipe videos, has been one of the hardest hit. On July 2, 2025, the company posted on Instagram acknowledging the problem directly: “We know it’s been hard to find us lately.” The brand has started working with additional manufacturing partners to boost output, but relief isn’t immediate.
Organic Valley reported that its cottage cheese sales grew over 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period a year earlier. Its marketing manager put it bluntly: “Organic Valley Cottage Cheese is selling faster than we can make it.” Westby Cooperative Creamery, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer, can produce about 14.5 million pounds of cottage cheese per year, but current orders exceed that capacity by at least 30%, not counting new inquiries. The co-op has resorted to partially filling customer orders.
Larger mainstream brands may still be available in most stores, but specialty, organic, and high-protein varieties are the ones most likely to be out of stock.
Why Demand Spiked So Fast
TikTok is the short answer. Cottage cheese went viral as a versatile, high-protein ingredient in recipes ranging from flatbreads to ice cream to pasta sauces. That social media momentum translated into real purchasing behavior. Cottage cheese is now consumed in roughly 45% of U.S. households, a significant jump from its reputation as a diet-food afterthought.
The trend also rides a broader wave of protein obsession. More people are prioritizing protein in their diets, influenced by health-focused podcasts, an aging population looking to preserve muscle mass, and the rise of GLP-1 weight loss medications that encourage high-protein eating to prevent muscle loss. Cottage cheese, with around 12 to 14 grams of protein per half-cup serving and relatively few calories, fits neatly into all of these trends at once.
Why Producers Can’t Just Make More
Dairy manufacturing doesn’t scale like flipping a switch. Most existing cottage cheese production facilities are already running at maximum capacity. Building new production lines or expanding existing ones takes significant time and capital investment, and dairy companies are understandably cautious about overbuilding for what could be a trend-driven spike.
There’s also a less obvious bottleneck in the milk supply itself. Over decades of breeding for volume, the dominant Holstein dairy cows now produce milk with lower solids content than older breeds did. The casein level in milk, the protein that forms the curds in cottage cheese, has dropped from about 2.5% to closer to 2.3%. That means you need more milk to produce the same amount of cottage cheese. Many manufacturers stopped fortifying their skim milk to compensate because of the added cost, which further reduced yields. So even when plants are running full tilt, each batch produces slightly less finished product than it would have a generation ago.
A Recall Added to the Problem
Compounding the supply crunch, a recall pulled multiple cottage cheese products from Walmart stores across 24 states after the FDA determined the items were not fully pasteurized. The affected states spanned from Alaska and California to Texas and Georgia. While recalls are temporary, removing product from shelves in that many states during an already tight supply period made the shortage more visible to shoppers in those regions.
What You Can Use Instead
If your store is consistently out of the brand or style you prefer, a few substitutes work well depending on what you’re making:
- Ricotta cheese is the closest match in texture. It works in nearly any recipe that calls for cottage cheese, from lasagna to blended dips.
- Greek yogurt has a similar protein profile and a tangier flavor. It substitutes well in smoothies, bowls, and baked goods.
- Firm tofu can be crumbled or blended as a plant-based stand-in, especially in savory recipes. Adding a pinch of salt helps bridge the flavor gap.
- Paneer, the soft Indian cheese, shares cottage cheese’s mild flavor and works well in cooked dishes.
When Supply Might Catch Up
Brands like Good Culture are actively onboarding new manufacturing partners, and cooperatives like Westby are fielding new production inquiries. But expanding dairy processing takes months, not weeks. Equipment has to be sourced, facilities need to meet food safety standards, and milk supply contracts have to be negotiated. With orders still exceeding capacity by 30% or more at some producers, spot shortages of popular brands will likely continue into 2026. Mainstream store brands may remain easier to find, so checking the full dairy case rather than hunting for one specific label is your best bet in the meantime.