Amidst positive news about large-scale cheese production plants planned for the next few years, key moves continue in the value-added space as well. This column has asserted before that the dairy industry is healthiest when small to mid-sized cheesemakers are growing – capturing the attention of media, chefs and retailers, providing a pipeline of new cheese styles and burnishing the image of U.S. cheese abroad.
Around the nation, value-added investment continues apace:
- Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery is just months from its first batches of muenster and flavored natural cheeses at its greenfield plant in Menomonie, Wis.
- Sartori Cheese is expanding its packaging facility 25 percent in Plymouth, Wis.
- Cacique is building a new, $88 million Hispanic cheese operation in Amarillo, Texas.
- Kansas Dairy Ingredients is investing $45 million to make a variety of value-added cheese styles at its plant in Hugoton, Kansas.
- Agri-Mark is investing in its Chateaugay, New York, plant to assure a future for its renowned cheddar, pepper jack and muenster cheeses.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association
