Committed to cottage cheese

WESTBY, Wis. — Wisconsin’s only cottage cheese processor is now home to one of the world’s leading cottage cheese production systems. By unveiling the country’s first enclosed processing vat, Westby Cooperative Creamery demonstrated its commitment to meeting and growing the demand for cottage cheese.

“This is phase one of our modernization projects here at Westby Cooperative Creamery,” said CEO JD Greenwalt. “We’ve invested roughly $15 million to get a 50% increase in capacity for our cottage cheese. The enclosed vats are the first of their kind in the United States as we’re really trying to be cutting edge and bring us to the next generation of dairy farmers.”

The former production method was more labor intensive and exposed the product to the environment. This new method enhances employee safety, production consistency and efficiency while cutting production time in half to 8 hours.

“When JD and his team pitched the idea of this expansion to us, we listened,” said board president and dairy farmer Ben Klinkner. “Our objectives were more than just the profitable side. We wanted to create a legacy. I’m a sixth-generation farmer raising the seventh, and I hope that’s not where it ends. I want it to continue to go on, and that played a big role in our decision.”

Klinkner operates a 60-cow dairy near Cashton. The family farm is a focus for Westby Cooperative Creamery, as the modernization project attempts to help ensure the future for farms like his.

“We work with a lot of pretty small, family-run dairy farms,” Greenwalt said. “That’s why it is important that we are successful. Without the backdrop of a cooperative such as Westby Cooperative Creamery, a lot of these small farms would struggle. It’s a tough business to be in, which is why it’s important that we’re successful.”

The installation represents the most significant advancement in the creamery’s cottage cheese production process in decades. The automated enclosed systems now handle ingredient delivery, product testing and sanitation, while high-efficiency particulate air-filtered environments further enhance food safety.

The new project included a food-grade production room within the existing facility, two fully enclosed cottage cheese vats capable of producing up to 12,000 pounds of cottage cheese per run, two 10,000-gallon cream tanks, a new 30,000-gallon milk silo and updated refrigeration, sanitation and auxiliary systems.

“If we can’t remain competitive … we’ll be pushed right out of the market,” Greenwalt said. “In a small town like Westby, without this factory here, the entire economics of this community are in jeopardy.”

Westby Creamery sales and marketing manager Emily Bialkowski said interest in cottage cheese is at an all-time high, driven by its versatility as an ingredient and as a stand-alone high-protein food.

“Because we have pre-sold the additional seven million pounds of capacity created by this investment, we won’t be looking to actively market the product until our next expansion,” she said. “If interest continues at this pace, it won’t be long until Westby Creamery announces another project.”

Westby Cooperative Creamery was established in 1903, with its factory constructed in 1926. This project helps the creamery establish its commitment to the future of its dairy farmers. Increased production allows it to track new opportunities while responding better to existing customers.

“When you see the outside, it looks like a 100-year-old factory,” Greenwalt said. “And when you have a 100-year-old factory, you have two choices: You invest, or you don’t. And if you don’t, it’s a short-lived time frame to go in the other direction. Those are really decisions that we had to make with the board, and I’m very happy that they were committed to their craft of being small family dairies so that we can invest in this company and allow them their way of life.”

With the new cottage cheese production system online, the creamery hopes it has positioned itself for a productive future, using the milk from local dairy farmers to help fill a gap in consumer demand.

“High protein is not going away; clean label is not going away,” Greenwalt said. “That’s where we need to make sure we market and provide a value-added consumer product, so consumers have something to buy…Once we bring up the capacity, we can start innovating.”