Posted: 11.03.2011

Is Wisconsin losing it's taste for American Cheddar cheese?  

You might think so if you look at the latest cheese production figures from the Wisconsin Ag Statistical Service.  State officials say in 2011, American Cheddar cheese production in the state dropped 17 percent.  Not a surprise to John Umhoeffer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association.

"This is actually a part of a long term trend,"  Umhoeffer tells the Wisconsin Farm Report.  "Frankly there's a lot of new production out west - Texas, Idaho, New Mexico - and they've turned toward mild cheddar cheese in those new plants.  That's why Wisconsin has moved away from that market a bit."

Umhoeffer says Wisconsin cheesemakers have been moving up the ladder toward Italian style cheeses.  State figures show Wisconsin increasing Mozzarella production by 8 percent - with all Italian cheese production going up by 6 percent.

What's next?  Umhoeffer says specialty cheese production in the state is continuing to go up, and he believes there will be more Greek yogurt coming to the state.  He also believes that there will be more investment in non-cow dairy facillities. "There's no end to the sheep and goat cheeses you'll see coming to Wisconsin too,"  Umhoeffer continues. He says venture captial is streaming into Wisconsin from outside the state - in fact outside the nation.  "We're seeing venture capital coming from Ireland, France, Canada - with even stronger interest from outside investors in the high end whey products."

Umhoeffer says the number of cheese facilities in Wisconsin are growing - but most are artisan producers, so generally smaller in scale.  He says the industry is also renovating existing cheese facilities to expand capacity and types produced.

And is Wisconsin's reputation still intact despite that 17 percent decline in American Cheddar?  Yes!  2011 production figures show California cheese production was down 3 percent - Idaho, down 4 percent and New Mexico production down 8 percent.  Meanwhile Wisconsin's total cheese production for 2011 went up 1 percent.

Umhoeffer says, " We're still the number one cheese producer.  We had a little softness in milk production which directly impacts our cheese production - but it looks like our milk production is starting to rebound.  I don't see any threat to our crown really."


 

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