PIPE, Wis. – LaClare Farms, maker of U.S. Championship Evalon goat's milk cheese, debuted its new state-of-the-art, 35,000 sq. ft. farmstead dairy plant in eastern Wisconsin this week.
Owned by the Larry and Clara Hedrich family of Chilton, the facility includes a dairy plant, retail store and café, along with a milking parlor with housing for 600 milking goats.
Located at W2994 County Road HH, east of the intersection of Highway 151 in tiny Pipe, Wis., the retail shop offers specialty cheeses, craft beers, wines, ice cream and Wisconsin local foods. Due to be open next week, the café will offer a menu for lunch and dinner, with a courtyard space to be available to rent for meetings and gatherings.
The dairy plant, slated to become fully operational in late August, will process cow, goat and sheep milk products. The facility will also be capable of aging cheese in curing rooms and producing cultured products and bottled milk. In addition to crafting their own LaClare Farms products, the Hedrichs will perform custom processing and aging, and work with beginning dairy entrepreneurs to develop new products.
The entire facility will offer public viewing windows so visitors may see first-hand what’s happening in the goat milking parlor, dairy processing plant and cheese aging rooms.
“This has truly been a labor of love for the Hedrich family,” co-owner Larry Hedrich said. “We are proud to open one of the most modern dairy processing facilities in the United States that is vertically integrated, allowing us to produce the highest quality goat milk products possible.”
The new farmstead dairy plant allows the Hedrich family to expand their current offering of goat’s milk and mixed milk cheeses, including Evalon, Fresh Chevre, Cheddar, Fondy Jack and an array of American Originals, all crafted by the Hedrich’s daughter, Katie Hedrich, the 2011 U.S. Champion Cheesemaker.
The couple’s son, Greg Hedrich, is the business manager of the integrated agricultural enterprise, and daughter Jessica Hedrich has joined the LaClare team to run the retail store and cafe. Another daughter, Anna, will work part-time for LaClare Farms in herd management while continuing her off-enterprise job. All Hedrich siblings hold university degrees in subjects ranging from marketing to human resources to dairy science to education.
The project was made possible by financial assistance from Fond du Lac County, the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corporation, and Calumet County Bank.
Source: LaClare Farms