MONROE, Wis. — After 80 years in the business, the Buholzer family knows that product consistency and, at the same time, a willingness to adapt and change are two critical components to success in the cheese industry.

Klondike Cheese Co.’s specialty is Feta, produced for foodservice, private label and retail. The company’s formula hasn’t changed much over the years, and a bevy of awards including firsts from the Wisconsin State Fair, the World Championship Cheese Contest and the American Cheese Society annual competition — not to mention growing demand — attest to the quality of the cheese. But Ron Buholzer, a third-generation cheesemaker and company president, says the family never rests on its laurels.

“We’re always improving operations,” Buholzer says. “As you move forward, you see better ways to do things.”

One of the biggest projects the company has undertaken this past year is a brand new wastewater treatment system.

Construction of a lagoon system for waste treatment is complete and is just about to become operational. Buholzer says the system is made up of three lagoons that hold a total of 11 million gallons of liquid. Wastewater will be transferred from anaerobic to aerobic lagoons as bacteria break down waste material. The finished product will be used to irrigate several hundred acres of farmland owned by Klondike.

Buholzer says that while winter weather can affect the company’s ability to use landspreading, coming environmental restrictions and the fact that the company’s production is growing — leading to more waste — will make landspreading all the more difficult.

“We wanted to get ahead of the game and not back ourselves in a corner,” Buholzer says.

Klondike has been the beneficiary of increased interest in specialty cheeses which, in part, is spurring increased demand and the need for the company to expand.

“Driving the category are the fact that people are becoming more aware of Feta,” Buholzer says, noting the increased availability today of recipes telling people how to use Feta in salads, pasta, pizza and other popular Greek favorites.

It doesn’t hurt that Feta can add a lot of flavor by just sprinkling it on.

“All areas are growing but crumbled Feta is seeing a lot of growth,” Buholzer says. “People like more convenience.”

After a major plant overhaul and expansion in 2001 that basically involved creating a whole new cheese plant, Klondike has continued to invest in production improvements to more fully utilize its capacity. Most recently, the company added another brine tank, cooler and conveyor belt. New stacking/destacking equipment also been installed.

Klondike, which markets about 80 percent of its Feta for foodservice, also sells its Feta at retail under the Odyssey brand.

The company presently is exploring some new packaging and sizes, says Luke Buholzer, Ron’s son and one of several family members who make up the fourth generation of the cheese business. The new packaging should make its appearance in the first half of 2006.

Klondike also makes some cheeses besides Feta, including Muenster, Brick and Havarti, but Ron Buholzer says that the company makes three times more Feta than the other cheeses combined. Feta is the niche the company has built for itself and is best structured to produce at this point. That said, in a continued effort to improve its product, the Buholzers currently are looking at ordering new equipment to give Klondike’s Havarti an improved appearance.

With Feta being the company’s mainstay product, it’s natural Klondike’s management is keeping an eye on the European Union’s (EU) protection of the Feta name so that Feta can only be produced in Greece. Presently, Klondike isn’t exporting to the EU so the company is not affected by any rules there. Of bigger concern, however, is the EU’s push for geographical indications at the World Trade Organization (WTO) level, which would limit the use of the name Feta for all WTO countries. But while it’s a concern, Luke Buholzer says so far he is pleased with the U.S. government’s stance against geographical indications.

The thing that both Ron and Luke Buholzer say sets their company apart is the entire family’s focus on quality and consistency.

“One of our highlights is four generations of commitment to quality cheese,” Luke Buholzer says. “That’s what I’ve done my whole life and so have my cousins. We’ve pretty much committed our lives to making good quality cheese.”

Today, nine members of the Buholzer family work at Klondike. Ron, along with his brothers Dave and Steve, follow in the footsteps of their father, Alvin, who became the cheesemaker at the plant in 1946, as well as their grandfather, Ernest, who became the cheesemaker at the plant in 1925. While the Buholzers long made cheese at Klondike, which started out as a co-op in the 1800s, they formed a family corporation and bought the plant and its assets in 1973. In addition to Luke Buholzer, the fourth generation of the Buholzer family includes his brother Matt, as well as Steve’s son, Adam and his wife Teena, and daughter Melissa Erdley and her husband Matt.

“We’ve been at this quite a while. The whole family is dedicated to quality and service,” says Ron Buholzer, with unmistakable pride in his voice as he notes the fourth generation’s involvement.

“We work incredibly hard to make sure the cheese is the same day after day with a nice pleasing flavor and no bitterness,” he adds.

Ron Buholzer says the company markets its cheese in a variety of ways, including brokers, word-of-mouth and direct contacts at trade shows across the country. The company also has plans to develop a website in the future.

Klondike presently markets around 23 million pounds of cheese annually and is at a size where the company can meet demand while retaining some flexibility.

“We’ve taken the steps necessary to add to our production capabilities. We’ve done a good job addressing our capacity issues,” Ron Buholzer says. “We’re not focused on going in any one direction & we can handle just about anything that comes our way.”

CMN