BARABOO, WI – Foremost Farms USA® sharp cheddar cheese, produced at Waumandee, Wis., placed first in its category at the 2011 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Products Contest this month. The cheddar, which was aged about nine months at the time of the contest, is produced by Waumandee employees in 640-pound blocks.
“What is really amazing is we didn’t make a special vat of cheese just for the contest,” said Jim Potter, Waumandee plant manager. “It was just the regular, high quality cheese that we produce every day for customers. I am very proud of our staff at Waumandee.”
Potter adds that the Waumandee plant has been producing cheddar cheese for aging since it was renovated in 2008. The white sharp cheddar entered in the contest was made in November of 2010 and earned a score of 99.45 out of a possible 100 points. Waumandee employees also placed third in another cheddar category. Besides cheddar, the plant also produces Monterey jack, Colby, Colby jack, mozzarella and muenster cheeses.
Quality cheese begins with quality milk from dairy producer member-owners who ship to the Waumandee plant from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. “This is a fantastic achievement for the employees at Waumandee, but it’s also important that our member-owners know that quality milk from the farm translates into world-class cheddar cheese,” said Dave Fuhrmann, Foremost Farms president.
All first-place entries will be auctioned during the 2011 World Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis., Oct. 4-8. The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA) received a record number of 705 entries for the product categories from throughout the United States. The contest began nine years ago and has averaged a 25% annual rate of growth.
Foremost Farms USA is a dairy cooperative headquartered in Baraboo, Wis., and is among the top ten dairy cooperatives in the U.S. based on milk volume. Its 2,100 dairy farmer members live in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The cooperative marketed 5.6 billion pounds of milk in 2010. Foremost Farms has nine cheese plants, five dairy ingredient plants and one butter plant. In 2010, the cooperative’s revenues were $1.4 billion.
Source: Foremost Farms USA