| While there are several components of the cheese business at the Wisconsin Cheeseman companies, it's a sure thing all of them will take pride in the success of Scott's cold pack. Each of the businesses focus on a different portion of the market — Scott's of Wisconsin is the grocery division, while Wisconsin Cheeseman is the catalog business and Mille Lacs is the gift business. Yet though they differ in emphasis, the companies have something important in common — they all focus heavily on the cheese products processed at the company's Sun Prairie, Wis., facility. There, the company also produces other food items, including candy, making it one of the few gift businesses that manufactures the majority of its gifts.
In the mid-1940s, Garvin and Helen Cremer — whose daughter Holly today heads up the business — opened a small catalog/gift business through which they sold Wisconsin cheese. That business eventually progressed from their basement to a mail order business in Sun Prairie, and as time went on they purchased Mille Lacs with its maple products and wild rice, as well as expanded into cheese processing and candy making, says Charles Kesler, senior vice president and general manager, Mille Lacs and Scott's of Wisconsin.
Today, the company's products can be found in a wide range of places. Scott's of Wisconsin cold pack cheese food, balls and logs are staples in grocers' refrigerated sections throughout the country, and Mille Lacs offers a wide selection of gift baskets including those offered at wholesalers and those offered at upscale department stores. In a large room at the company's 800,000-square-foot facility, the company puts together the components of the baskets ranging from sausage to mustard to jams to, of course, cheese. The company also assembles items for specialty gift advertising, especially designed for companies who want to highlight their own company's name on gifts to customers. In addition, the Scott's of Wisconsin Fund-Raising Division offers more of the same with a twist — cheese, chocolate, gift wrap and non-food collectibles are among the items the division offers schools and other groups looking to raise funds.
Yet even with all of these items, about half of the company's sales are in cheese, says Kesler.
Last year, the company saw double digit growth in the grocery business, with special strength in cheese balls and logs. The company had to run the production lines seven days a week for more than seven weeks this past fall because of strong demand, he says.
Cold pack is doing well, too, both domestically and internationally. Scott's cold pack has been on store shelves in Japan for the past 10 years and last year the company also began shipping product to Mexico.
In addition to this, the company is actively pursuing new products.
"We have some really good research and development people focusing on new products," says Randy Krause, national sales manager, Scott's of Wisconsin. "Customers bring us all kinds of ideas, too."
In the last couple of years, the company has begun offering 450-pound drums of cheese sauces such as Asiago and Feta for bakeries. On the retail side, cheese balls with a Southwestern flair have been introduced, including Queso Blanco, Nacho and Jalapeno flavors.
"We've also added a ranch flavor cheese," Krause notes.
While Scott's focuses on cheeses in the refrigerated case, Mille Lacs focuses on shelf-stable cheeses such as its "Edel-Swiss," "Tuscany" and "Amstel," which come in 1-ounce links and other decorative packages in larger sizes. These names depict a fanciful image, but Mille Lacs also offers other upper-end cheeses such as Brie. Over time, consumers' interest in cheese has grown and developed, Thielke notes.
 "Brie and Camembert used to be too classy for gift baskets. That's no longer the case," he says, explaining that while gift baskets must be neutral enough to appeal to a wide range of people, customers also are looking for high-quality, flavorful cheese that sets one basket apart from another.
Flavorful cheeses are especially important in the grocery, Krause adds. Sharp Cheddar and Port Wine are the number one and two sellers in cold pack, respectively, he says.
The gift company known for its cheese has not only put additional emphasis on expanding the depth of its product offerings, it has focused on improving its product packaging and making sure its emphasis on excellence is embraced by everyone from management down to the newest gift pack assembly employee.
"We make a conscientious effort in the company to make sure everyone strives for excellence," Krause says.
As part of this effort, about a year ago the company reworked many of its labels to include a series of gold cows parading around the edge of the packages. Gold cows, that is, except for one. One cow is white to signify the stand-out difference of Scott's products and to remind employees — who number up to 2,100 during the busy fall season — that excellence is paramount, Krause says.
The company, a heavy buyer of Wisconsin cheese for processing, also plays up the Wisconsin label, says Krause, explaining that the name Wisconsin is the second most recognizable name for quality and wholesomeness behind Vermont.
The new focus and success of the Heart of Wisconsin label attests to this. Owned by the company for 25 years, the Heart of Wisconsin label was primarily relegated to the mail order business until recently. However, the company introduced the brand into the retail market about a year ago, and in the fall of this year, there will be a major launch of it in the catalog.
"Heart of Wisconsin has been tremendously successful; on sales calls, people won't let our samples leave," Thielke says.
In general, the company is working on updating its labels and its packaging, providing more "in trend" colors for packages and new ideas for gift baskets.
"Our colorful labels had served their purpose well but the time had come for a change," Kesler says. "The new colors are calmer with a color palette that works in more places than the labels used to. It's better looking and easier to pack gift components."
Even with these changes, though, the company continues to be on the look out for new ideas and better ways of doing things. Each year, for instance, the company attends the Surtex Show to find out what the latest trends are in colors and textures so that its products are in style for department store and other customers.
When it comes to the actual cheese products, the company focuses on listening to what its customers want Krause adds.
"We're trusted and respected in the industry. If we tell a customer we can do something, we move heaven and earth to do it," he adds.
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