MINONK, Ill. — For 90 years, the Zivney family has been in the cheese and dairy business, first in Wisconsin and since 1934 in Illinois. The family's focus has always been on product quality — quality that's achieved by a hands-on approach to business, according to Jeff Zivney, president and owner, Zivney Cheese, and a third generation cheesemaker.

Up until recently, the company didn't even do much in the way of marketing, instead letting its product speak for itself. But Zivney Cheese has recently entered a new era, hiring a salesman and undertaking an in-depth marketing program which will lead to a plant expansion.

Don Ihde, who had retired after years of selling cheese, has been Zivney Cheese's chief salesman for the past year. He decided to leave his retirement behind, he says, because he has always had the utmost respect for Jeff Zivney and Zivney Cheese, even as he competed — or perhaps, because he had competed — against Zivney Cheese's Baby Swiss and Havarti earlier in his career.

"Zivney has the best Baby Swiss and Havarti, and it has the blue ribbons to prove it," Ihde says.

Since 1968, the Zivney family business has focused exclusively on producing specialty cheeses. While Jeff Zivney's father, Ray, was attending Iowa State in the 1940s, the Iowa-style Swiss, today's Baby Swiss, was developed. Ray Zivney decided that the company would produce Baby Swiss, and Zivney Cheese has since come to be known as a high quality Baby Swiss manufacturer which produces, among other things, a 3-pound wheel.

Then, in the 1980s, the company was approached to make a Havarti, a Havarti so true to traditional Danish Havarti that it couldn't be picked out from the imports. A food biologist was hired to create a culture that would be appropriate for such a cheese. Using Danish equipment and methods taught to them by two Danish Havarti experts, Zivney Cheese introduced a 60+%

Crème Havarti. In 1991, Zivney Cheese won a gold medal for its Havarti at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest as well as received second-runner up in the final championship round. At the World Championship Cheese Contest a year later, Zivney's Crème Havarti with dill won a gold medal, making it the first domestically-produced cheese Havarti to win the competition. In 1993, Ray Zivney's Baby Swiss won another gold for the company.

In addition to its mainstays of Baby Swiss and Havarti, the company also produces Lacy Swiss and other specialty cheeses.

Zivney Cheese primarily markets its product under private label for a variety of uses, including retail, foodservice and as an ingredient.

The company's product line is sold nationally but is best known among Midwest customers. Ihde plans on expanding that market presence, though, and he's particularly familiar with the California, Texas and Florida markets. The company also is beginning to market more product under the Zivney brand and has recently created a new label bearing the family name. The label is red so it stands out from the competition and contains a variety of nutritional information.

"I don't think a company should pigeonhole itself in one particular market in the specialty business," Zivney says of the company's desire to expand its branded name presence as well as its market share.

Zivney and Ihde both add, though, that as the company expands its Zivney brand, it will be careful not to compete with its customers who buy the cheese for private label.

Meanwhile, the company also is expanding its product line by introducing Baby Swiss and Havarti mini-horns. The product line, smaller than traditional horns, is in high demand because of its convenient size that works well in the deli and for foodservice applications, according to Ihde. Convenience is fast becoming a key decision-making factor for retailers as well as consumers, he notes.

The growth in the market appears to be in sliced, shredded and smaller chunks of cheeses, Zivney says. Retailers aren't keeping cheeses as long as they used to once they're opened, which is why the company offers half-loaves in addition to full size loaves.

There also is a strong market for specialty cheese, Zivney says, even among some customers who traditionally have bought commodity cheeses.

"There's still a big market for fast food, but there's demand for high quality," he says. "Customers will pay extra for something really nice.

"As incomes increase, not only do consumers buy better durable goods, they also buy better foods," he adds.

Ihde says the company already has doubled its business this year. He says when it comes to quality, the company cannot be beat.

"Our core belief is to offer customers the highest quality cheese in the industry today at a reasonable price," Ihde says.

"We've been offered to substitute ingredients to make cheaper cheese, and my dad wouldn't allow it and neither will I," Zivney adds.

The company practices its business with integrity and treats customers with the utmost service, Zivney says.

The company emphasizes its use of quality ingredients as well as its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plan and good manufacturing practices. The Zivney family is keenly aware that every package of cheese has its name and reputation on it, Zivney says. Ray Zivney, at age 81, still works on projects at the cheese plant throughout the year. Jeff's wife, Elaine, is a vice president and also works in the cheese plant. Their daughter, Jackie, is plant supervisor and son-in-law Mark Stephens is an assistant cheesemaker.

Ihde also is giving the company's customers and potential customers a personal touch when it comes to marketing. He has been traveling around the country, and is working with retailers on in-store demos and other promotions. Ihde says he's made contact with several large chains, and he hopes the company will double its business again by the end of the year.

"We don't want to overextend ourselves, but we want to quickly get to the point that we can expand," Ihde says.

Zivney says he's ready to expand when the time is right. Though the company had never had a sales manager before, bringing on Ihde was the right thing to do to compete against the "big boys," Zivney says. The company has the land to expand its production at its current location and stable sources of milk and labor.

Both Zivney and Ihde say that because the company is so quality-focused that they don't anticipate an expansion negatively impacting quality. The company's plant manager, Mike Frei, has been with Zivney Cheese since 1991, when he moved from Wisconsin to join the business. Zivney and Ihde say that all plant expansions are expected to go smoothly due to Frei's expertise in milk equipment and procurement and his organizational skills. He has utilized these skills to establish many of the testing procedures used by Zivney Cheese to ensure product quality, they say.

The company, which tries to keep production as up-to-date as possible, already has been looking into additional equipment.

"We have one-, three- and five-year plans," Zivney says.

Zivney also says the company always is looking for ways of doing things better and developing products that are a little different. One of the company's strengths in being smaller is that it can experiment a little. It's a strength the company doesn't plan to give up.

The company won't be making any big changes to the way its product is made, Ihde adds. A true salesman who believes in his product, he says: "You can't change the formula to make it better — you can't alter perfection."

CMN