MERRILL, Wis. — Rondelé Specialty Foods, in a continuing effort to provide consumers with value-added products without skimping on quality, has introduced three new flavors of its Rondelé Pub Cheese.

The three new flavors consist of a blend of soft spreadable cheese and Cheddar — Soft Spreadable Cheese with Sharp Cheddar, Soft Spreadable Cheese with Cheddar & Jalapeño and Soft Spreadable Cheese with Cheddar & Horseradish. Made with 9-month aged sharp Cheddar, these new Cheddar products join Rondelé’s existing Pub Cheese brand flavors of Garlic & Herbs and Zesty Salsa.

Rondelé, which in recent years has added several cheese items for the perimeter of the grocery store, including cheese products for the bakery, is probably best known as a U.S. manufacturer of specialty European-style soft cheese for the dairy case and has won numerous awards. The Pub Cheese line maintains Rondelé’s quality but provides a value-added alternative. Faith Stevenson, assistant marketing manager, Rondelé, calls Rondelé Pub Cheese “every man’s cheese.” Rondelé’s gourmet spreadable cheeses target upscale consumers while Rondelé Pub Cheese allows Rondelé to enter into everyday usage, she says.

By combining Rondelé’s creamy spreadable base with Cheddar, the company has created an innovative product for the marketplace, Stevenson says.

“It enters us into a different category,” Bob Constantino, president and CEO, Rondelé, says. “It fills the niche between Cheddar spreads and soft spreadable cheese. It’s perfect for parties, picnics and entertaining.”

All Rondelé Pub Cheese flavors are available in 8- and 12-ounce cups and 5-pound tubs, and Rondelé Pub Cheese Garlic & Herbs also is available in a 4-ounce extended shelf-life dairy box and shippers.

Stevenson says the company conducted focus groups as part of its product development. In addition to the distinctive flavor, she says that the strength of the Rondelé brand has helped the launch of the Pub Cheese products as well. People who know of Rondelé automatically think of quality, she says, so when they see Rondelé Pub Cheese they are already familiar with what is inside the package. The Real seal is prominently displayed to showcase it is made with real dairy ingredients.

The company has been making presentations on the new flavors since January, and Constantino says the company believes the product’s success will be “huge.”

This month, Rondelé will be introducing the product to consumers through a national FSI sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The new product rollout is nationwide, with authorizations throughout the United States to date. Rondelé also is providing customers with point-of-sale materials including recipe coupon pamphlets, demos and contests.

Rondelé’s efforts have not been limited to the expansion of its Pub Cheese brand. This past year the company has rolled out a Peppercorn Parmesan deli cup. Other new flavors in the past few years have included Salsa, Blue Cheese, and Goat Cheese. In all, Rondelé offers 10 flavors of deli cups of gourmet spreadable cheese. Rondelé’s deli cups are 8 ounces, offering 23 percent more than other brands’ 6.5-ounce cup, the company notes. The company also offers several flavors of its 4-ounce dairy boxes, which are rich and creamy gourmet spreadable cheese delicately flavored in the Old World Tradition. In general, Rondelé is always experimenting with new flavors, Stevenson says.

The company also has been busy raking in the awards. In the World Championship Cheese Contest last month, Rondelé placed second in the spreadable cheeses class with its Rondelé gourmet spreadable cheese deli cup. In the retail packaging class, the company placed second with its gourmet spreadable cheese deli cup. The mixed milk cheese class gave Rondelé gourmet spreadable cheese with goat cheese a third place finish. Last summer, Rondelé’s goat cheese deli cup placed first in the 2003 Wisconsin State Fair goat’s milk and mixed milk cheeses class. The toasted onion deli cup placed first in the Wisconsin State Fair’s flavored natural cheeses class.

Rondelé continues to strive to meet high standards, and its plant in Merrill, Wis., has been granted the American Institute of Bakers’ superior rating for the fifth year in a row, a point which makes Rondelé executives quite proud. The company also is certified organic, kosher and rBST-free. In addition, the company is HACCP compliant.

Canada is emerging with new market potential for Rondelé as well. The company recently introduced two deli cups into Canada — its Roasted Garlic and Artichoke and its Goat Cheese flavors.

“They’re doing well and we’re looking into other flavors there,” Stevenson says.

This fall, the company plans to have its extended shelf-life shippers in Canada in time for the holidays.

In the United States, Rondelé products also are available in the bakery section. The company reports that its Bagel Temptations, gourmet spreadable cheeses specifically designed to compliment fresh bagels in the bakery department, are doing well. Bagel Temptations are made from real dairy ingredients and have a shelf-life of 130 days from the date of manufacture; shipped and stored refrigerated, they are displayed unrefrigerated. Also doing well are Bread Essentials, light delicate gourmet cheese spreads that were introduced specifically for the bakery about three years ago. Like Rondelé Bagel Temptations, this product has a refrigerated shelf life of 130 days from the date of manufacture and can be displayed unrefrigerated.

The company also offers a Garlic & Herbs snack box featuring spreadable cheese and crackers. The product remains popular in hotel mini honor bars and other foodservice locations. All told, the company says about 80 percent of its cheese sales are in retail, with the remaining 20 percent in foodservice. In addition to its branded products, Rondelé does private label as well.

Rondelé recently hired a new manager of national accounts and alternate channels, George Wegner, to continue the company’s growth. Alternate channels, including convenience stores, club stores and mass merchandisers, are a key area of growth for Rondelé, says Stevenson, because they are such a quickly-growing market segment.

“We felt they are worth the time and effort to get the volume,” she says.

Rondelé has created multipacks and innovative packaging to suit the alternate channel venues.

Another area where the company is expending time and effort is in promoting its products as low-carb. The low-carbohydrate phenomenon, thanks to popular diets such as the Atkins Diet, has taken the nation by storm, and Rondelé is working on making consumers aware that its products have always been low in carbohydrates. The company is placing “1 carb per serving” stickers on the products to which it applies — almost all of them — and offering recipes featuring low carbohydrate dishes.

This year, the company also is participating in Cooking Light magazine’s Cooking Light tour, which is stopping at grocery stores around the country. Rondelé products are among a number of food products featured by the magazine as part of this tour.

In addition, the company continues to partner with E&J Gallo Wine. It also attends a number of trade shows, including the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) annual show in June.

As part of Rondelé’s ongoing efforts to provide great value to consumers, Stevenson says there are other efforts in the works, too. In the future, the company plans to update its dairy box and deli cup. In addition, the company’s website, which was updated just a few months ago, will be seeing a facelift in time for the IDDBA show. It will feature an easy-to-use consumer database, as well as online contests to support consumer promotions.

CMN