MONROE, Wis. — Roth Käse USA held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for an expansion of its plant here in Green County, Wisconsin.

The company, which makes a variety of cheeses but is best known for its award-winning Gruyere and other handcrafted cheeses, has been making cheese with one 15,000-pound copper vat for the 13 years it’s been in business. The expansion — a $5 million project which will be done in phases — will include the addition of a 40,000-pound copper Double O vat and the ability to eventually house four such vats, says Steve McKeon, president, Roth Käse USA.

The groundbreaking for the initial expansion, slated for completion by December, was hosted by the company’s board of directors — CEO Fermo Jaeckle, CFO Ueli Roth, Technical Director Felix Roth, General Manager Jim Natzke and McKeon — and included a luncheon for employees and a few guests.

“Our hope is to be producing by the first of the year and by spring of next year meet some of the demand in the market,” says McKeon. The company is experiencing sales growth in the double digits.

“The expansion will allow us to double our capacity to meet the increasing demand for Gruyere, one of our signature cheeses,” McKeon explains. “We’ll also be able to give our employees a much-needed new break room.”

The current breakroom will be converted to more space for affinage, which also is much-needed, according to McKeon. Presently some of the cheese is aged at other locations but the company eventually would like to cure more cheese closer to home. A second phase of the expansion project, targeted for completion over the next three years, will include a new affinage facility attached to the back of the current production facility. Once the project is completed, Roth Käse’s square footage will have more than doubled, McKeon says.

Roth Käse, founded by cousins Jaeckle, Ueli Roth and Felix Roth, does a diverse range of business. Focused on specialty cheese, it offers specialty varieties such as Raclette, Vintage Van Gogh Gouda and Mezzaluna Gorgonzola.

Roth Käse prides itself on having an attention to detail in every component of its products, from the quality of the cheese to their fanciful names to the packaging. The company is known for its ability to create specialty cheeses for its customers’ specifications, including making a Norwegian-style cheese for Disney World when the Norwegian Pavilion was in a pinch, unable to get its usual import several years ago. That cheese, combining German and Norwegian cheesemaking traditions, is now known as Knight’s Vail, a butter cheese that is aged in special cellars and features a brown rind.

The flexibility to create new products is a large part of why the company needs to expand its facilities, McKeon says. Among the company’s more recent additions are its Mezzaluna Gorgonzola, Braukäse (a butter Brick with a beer-washed rind) and horseradish and chive Havarti.

Roth Käse’s most recent new product addition is its GranQueso, a tangy Spanish-style cheese introduced this spring. The cheese joins the company’s Solé! brand as part of an effort to expand the company’s presence in the Hispanic cheese category, McKeon says.

The company’s innovation is leading to success on the competition circuit. GranQueso met with the approval of judges at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition last month, winning first place in the ripened Hispanic and Portuguese-style cheese category. Meanwhile, Braukäse took first place in the Brick and Muenster class in the World Championship Cheese Contest this spring and Vintage Van Gogh placed first in the open semi-soft class at this summer’s Wisconsin State Fair.

While the company won other awards as well, McKeon notes it was three of the company’s newest cheeses that took home first place awards, a sign that the company’s innovation is being well received.

Besides innovating, Roth Käse also markets cheese produced by other specialty cheesemakers, which are award winners in their own right.

“We’re a broad line manufacturer and marketer,” says McKeon, adding that the company is unique in that it is growing its business in both areas.

Roth Käse recently partnered with Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Waterloo, Wis., which produces fresh Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Farmer’s Rope String and Les Frères, a French-style cheese. McKeon says the addition of the Crave cheeses was important for Roth Käse because it adds cheeses that Roth Käse previously wasn’t able to supply its customers. Crave Brothers has won numerous cheese awards as well since starting cheesemaking in 2002.

Other relationships include those with award-winning goat cheesemaker Cypress Grove Chèvre and Sugarbrook Farms, a manufacturer of cheese spreads.

Roth Käse publicizes the various awards and new products in a number of ways, including trade advertising and various food shows. For the past couple of years Roth Käse also has published a newsletter called “The Cheese Board” which is aimed largely at chefs and specialty retailers. Roth Käse makes a point of sending out samples of its newest cheeses to top chefs to ensure that the new cheeses are making their way into kitchens.

From chefs to deli managers, Roth Käse believes in educating its customers on cheese attributes and functionality, new products and how customers can offer new cheeses in their stores or in menu applications. Several recipes featuring the company’s cheese can be found on its website. The company continually hosts customers at its facility so that they can see firsthand how cheese is made and appreciate the care and pride that go into the products.

“The company invests in building partners throughout the supply chain. It is just makes good business sense,” McKeon says.

With foodservice representing more than half of the company’s business, the company has invested in making sure that shreds and slices of its cheeses are available as well.

Effective Sept. 1 the company also will have a revamped version of its website up and running.

The site will build on the company’s advertising tagline, “You know us by our cheese.” Roth Käse is diverse in its cheese line, but it is always high-quality, a message that the advertising seeks to convey, McKeon says. Thus, in its regular advertising program, the close-up pictures of the cheese change to show the variety, but the tagline always remains the same.

“We want people to know we’re a company that can give them the full package,” McKeon says.

CMN