Despite labor shortages, transportation issues and supply chain delays for the simplest of products – Wisconsin’s specialty cheesemakers keep marching on!
With 25 percent of the nation’s total cheese production, Wisconsin maintained its ranking as the nation’s top cheese producing state in 2021. At 877 million pounds, specialty cheese accounted for 25 percent of Wisconsin’s total cheese production. This was an increase of 82.5 million pounds from 2020. Eighty-eight of the State’s 115 cheese plants manufactured at least one type of specialty cheese during 2021.
Wisconsin cheese makers are known for offering a wide variety of high quality specialty cheeses. A specialty cheese is a value-added product which commands a premium price. According to the Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute, the nature of specialty cheese is derived from one or more unique qualities, such as exotic origin, particular processing or design, limited supply, unusual application or use, and extraordinary packaging or channel of sale. The common denominator is its very high quality.
