Specialty cheese saw a relatively flat previous 52 weeks, according to Nielsen data. Average weekly sales per store increased by just 1.6 percent nationwide, from $4,401 to $4,474 for the 52 weeks ending on May 26.

Each region saw slight bumps in weekly store sales. While the East region once again boasted the highest average sales — $9,112 per week — the Central region saw the biggest increase at 3 percent.

On the other hand, specialty cheese’s contribution to deli department sales went slightly down nationwide, from 16.5 percent to 16.4 percent. The East and South regions saw small dips, while the Central region went up slightly and the West region remained flat.

General specialty cheeses made up a majority of the category’s sales, while service cheese and pre-sliced cheese contributed smaller portions.

As in the previous 52 weeks, cheese sales remained steady throughout the year with significant jumps around the fourth-quarter holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year’s Eve.