| "I believe in 'cause marketing,'" explains Viviani. "That is, supporting social, non-profit causes in our area."
In addition to focusing on supporting local causes, concentrating on marketing possibilities in the Sonoma area and the surrounding region has generated much of the success Sonoma Cheese enjoys today. One aspect of that success has come from showing off the cheese industry's strengths in a region where wine rules.
"Cheesemakers should have the same celebrity status as wine makers," Viviani says. "It's just as challenging to make a fine piece of cheese as a fine bottle of wine."
In a county where wineries come by the dozen — there are 34 within a 10-mile radius of the cheese plant — Sonoma Cheese has worked to build relationships with wine makers and promote wine and cheese pairings to the greatest extent possible. It's a logical way to market, he says.
• Factory theater
Taking advantage of its surroundings in wine country, Sonoma Cheese starts its marketing at home — literally.
At the Sonoma Cheese factory, visitors can watch the cheesemaking process through a 12-foot viewing window, including watching the cheesemakers work with the cheese on brand new finishing tables recently installed.
In the past couple of years, the plant has undergone somewhat of a transformation. Last year, all of the cheesemaking equipment was removed so that the company could put in all new floors and utilities, as well as the finishing tables. This year, the company just finished installing new enclosed cheese vats, switching from open vats and slightly increasing the company's capacity. The company also added a curd saver.
The changes, Viviani says, are about improving the cheese — not increasing the company's output. The decision was made to make the improvements after the company decided in conjunction with Rondelé Specialty Foods that plans to move forward with a new joint cheese plant in the Sonoma area weren't feasible.
Amicably, Sonoma Cheese and Rondelé also ended their business partnership earlier this year. For the past couple of years, Rondelé assisted in marketing cheese products for Sonoma, and that relationship worked very well, Viviani says. However, now Viviani and his Sonoma Cheese team — along with regional sales managers at Fromartharie Inc. with whom Sonoma Cheese has had a long-standing relationship — handle all of the marketing for the cheese company.
The investments made in the plant are part of that marketing effort, especially because the Sonoma Cheese Factory is so well-known in the community and has become a tourist attraction of its own. More than 400,000 people visit the factory annually, Viviani says, with about a third being locals, a third being out-of-town regular visitors and a third being once-in-a-lifetime visitors.
For these visitors, Sonoma Cheese gives a firsthand look at the cheesemaking process.
"In some ways, we're trying to create a theater," Viviani says. "When it's cheesemaking time, it's show time for me. The actors are our staff."
Casting, Viviani adds, is very important. Not only does he give a lot of credit to his employee team, he also quickly attributes much of the company's success to the cows.
"One of our successes here is the beautiful milkshed we have in this county," he says. "We always like to acknowledge the cows and the dairymen because you can't make great cheese from average milk."
Sonoma Cheese doesn't make a lot of cheese — about 2 million pounds a year. However, it does try to make cheese as often as it can because of the constant stream of visitors. The visitors also are quick to learn about Viviani's philosophy of the importance of dairy cows through a 4-minute slide show about cheese from the cow to the counter.
On Sonoma Cheese Factory's counter, visitors find a variety of cheese cubed and ready for sampling.
Besides the sampling, Sonoma Cheese offers a store that's popular with locals and tourists alike. The store offers the typical things one would find in a deli and gift shop — postcards, key chains, Sonoma mugs, and of course, all kinds of Sonoma cheese, including its nine flavors of Jack and its ever-popular Teleme, a softer, tangier cousin to Jack. The store doesn't stop there, though. At the factory, visitors also can get a good lunch. Custom-made sandwiches, salads and picnic treats are offered, and the company's newest feature, barbecued Sonoma Jack cheeseburgers, have been a real hit, Viviani says. Since last July, the company already has sold 8,000 Sonoma Jack cheeseburger on weekends, he says.
Offering an on-site patio barbecue and store is admittedly a money maker — it's Sonoma Cheese's eighth biggest customer, Viviani says. Still, the restaurant aspect has a twofold purpose.
With many of the menu items featuring Sonoma cheese, "it gives people an idea of how to use the cheese when they go home," Viviani says.
The factory also offers recipes using Sonoma Cheese, as does the company's website at www.sonomajack.com or www.sonomacheese.com.
• Building a consumer following
There once was a time when the factory store was the company's sole customer, Viviani goes on to say. The plant for a time made cottage cheese and cream for one major outside customer: Kraft Cheese. However, Celso and son Peter eventually began making Jacks and finally switched over all of the production, selling the cheese solely at their factory store. The company only began selling its cheese beyond the factory again about 25 years ago, Viviani says.
However, as time has gone on and Sonoma Cheese has developed its specialty cheese, the company has grown due to its loyal factory customer base and retail outlets in California picking up the cheese. Today, that same focus on sampling at the cheese plant — as well as at retail  outlets — continues to help it grow, says Ron Schinbeckler, general manager, Fromartharie Inc.
"There's lot of cheap Jack out there," Schinbeckler says. "But these are hand-rolled Jacks. Consumers have seen how it's made and they've tasted it because David has an aggressive sampling program."
The company's tie-ins with the wine business also have helped build its success.
"America has continued interest in wines," Schinbeckler says. "And people are looking for an experience.
"No other Jack producer can say it's in the heart of wine country," he adds.
Among the partnerships Sonoma Cheese has developed is its ongoing relationship with Gallo Wines in which the two team up for cross-promotional efforts, Schinbeckler explains.
Viviani also has developed a cheese and wine tasting class that he's presented to cooking schools as well as on television. The problem with how cheese traditionally is judged, Viviani says, is that cheese is scored on a 100-point scale with fractions of points subtracted based on defects. Viviani goes at the matter from an opposite perspective — he's developed a cheese scoring sheet that judges cheese on a positive basis — that is the cheese receiving points for the better it tastes.
"We swirl small cubes of cheese in wine glasses," Viviani adds. "Each is scored on its own merit."
In his classes, Viviani also teaches people to pair cheese and wine. However, instead of a typical wine tasting where the cheese is a backup to the wine, the wine is the backup to the cheese.
At tasting classes, Viviani features his own cheese as well as others. As for his own cheeses, he might feature his traditional Sonoma Jack and one of the flavored varieties which include pesto, garlic, habanero, hot pepper, Vidalia onion, salsa jack, Mediterranean and smoked. The company also produces ParmaJack and Cheddar, including its Chile-Cheddar.
In addition, Sonoma Cheese has been offering some new products as of late. Pepato Jack was recently introduced, as was a Billy Jack brand made with goat's milk.
Recently the company also has begun to offer its Teleme outside the store. The cheese now is available in a 9-ounce loaf cut in a windowed box that tells the story behind the cheese. A 5-pound tub for foodservice also is available.
National distribution for all of Sonoma Cheese's products is growing. Currently, about 80 percent of the cheese is marketed within the state but Viviani hopes to eventually see the split between in- and out-of-state sales change to about 50-50.
One way Sonoma Cheese has improved its presence in the national marketplace is by taking advantages of the California Milk Advisory Board's (CMAB) recent out-of-state campaigns. CMAB has marketed California cheese in both Denver and Phoenix and Sonoma Cheese has experienced strong sales growth in both markets. There are other pockets that the company's product does well in too, Viviani says.
An unlikely marketing vehicle also has helped Sonoma Cheese make a name for itself around the country. In 1997, Viviani and his son, Peter, participated in the "Great Race" vintage car rally with the family's 1931 Ford AA 1-1/2 ton truck like the one Viviani's father and grandfather once used to transport milk and cheese. Viviani used the truck as a platform to hand out coupons, a recipe card and 3/4-ounce trial portions of cheese.
Sonoma Cheese has gotten a lot of mileage out of the truck, having used it to promote product in a number of local parades. The truck will be part of the company's booth at the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association's show next month in Anaheim, Calif., and then will be featured this summer in the Harrah's auto collection in Reno. A line drawing of the antique truck also is featured on some package labels.
In addition, Sonoma Cheese bought a brand new refrigerated van to sell its product. The van, decorated with the company's name and logo and driven by a full-time salesman/driver, visits local restaurants and wineries to sell product. The van also helps get the company's name out to people who might see it drive by, Viviani adds.
The upshot of all this is name recognition and growing popularity for Sonoma Cheese, which continues to enjoy sales increases.
"We don't want anyone to visit Sonoma County without seeing Sonoma Jack," Viviani says.
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