Bill Hanson, owner of Arena Cheese, and already a certified Master Cheesemaker of Gouda and Colby, received the first ever Colby-Jack Master Certification at the Wisconsin Cheese Industry Conference in April in Madison, WI. Arena is the same dairy plant that in 1979 invented and produced the first ever Colby-Jack. It is still made using the same recipe and traditional long-horn production.
Team Arena received a medal for Colby at this year’s U.S. Cheese Championships. This adds to the 30+ medals won at the World, US and American Cheese Society cheese contests for Colby/Jack, Colby, Smoked Gouda and fresh Cheddar curds.
In March of this year, Arena received the highest grade possible (AA) for food safety and sanitation, using world’s standard BRC(British Retail Consortium). BRC is part of GFSI(Global Food Safety Initiative).