If you’ve recently visited the cheese rack at the grocery store, you may have noticed that Tine Norvegia Fyldig is no longer to be found. The cheese has been replaced with a new variant called Norvegia Smaksrik.

A news that not everyone welcomes.

Not the same

Stian Indal Haugseth and his family had been loyal buyers of Norvegia Fyldig, and he was given the unpleasant surprise to learn that the cheese had expired. He wasn’t too enthusiastic about the newcomer Smaksrik.

– It tastes so different. It’s drier and immediately has less flavor than Fyldig, he told DinSide.

Aftertaste described Haugseth as “toned and reminiscent of Jarlsberg”, and he was not a big fan of Tine’s cheese.

Fat hysteria

Haugseth posted a post on Tines Facebook page where he commented on the change. There were also some people reacting to the fact that the full body version of the Norvegia had been discontinued.

He said it was difficult to understand the feedback from Tine that the change was an improvement and to fulfill consumers’ desire for cheese with more flavor and less fat.

– Something happens to cheese when the fat percentage is cut. It got drier and no longer good. There is more flavor in the old one. It’s almost become hysteria to cut fat – everything has to be cut, but when they cut the fat percentage, it becomes more processed and also not recommended, said one disappointed Norwegian eater.

The “scandal cheese” is back

Replace cheese

Or should we say a former Norwegian eater.

Haugseth said that Norvegia Fyldig was a cheese the whole family loved, so it was hard to find an heir.

They’ve tried Norvegia Vellagret, but that was before, while according to Haugseth, a competitor’s cheese has the same problem as Smaksrik, namely it’s dry.

– We have now switched to Swedish gräddost. It has a higher fat percentage and there is more flavor in it.

– Very good score

Tine confirmed to DinSide that they had replaced Norvegia Fyldig with Smaksrik.

– Norvegian Smaksrik is kept longer to bring out more of the famous and unique Norvegian taste, says Margrethe Holm Rogne, press officer at Tine.

He said that Smaksrik had received very good scores in consumer tests, and much better than Norvegia Fyldig.

– According to sales figures, Norvegia Smaksrik’s sales are also better than Norvegia Fyldig. And that trend is increasing week after week, he said.

– Consumers want more taste and variety in the cheese category, and we want to offer that to them. Many of those who previously bought Norvegia Fyldig are now buying Norvegia Smaksrik.

When asked what Tine thought about the feedback that Smaksrik was considered a bit dry and not as good as Fyldig, Rogne said that these were two different cheeses with different characteristics.

– Norvegian Smaksrik is stored for several months longer than Fyldig, precisely so that the cheese develops its flavours. If Smaksrik was kept longer than now, the cheese would have more flavor, he said and added:

– It is natural that cheeses are stored longer at different consistencies, and Smaksrik can be considered drier than Fyldig and crumbles more easily, which is typical for cheeses that are stored better. Full-bodied has a flexible and creamy consistency, much like the Norvegia Original in that it has been stored for about the same amount of time.