GREEN BAY, Wis. — One could say that Greg Kinate, founder and president of Kineva Foods, was destined to be in the cheese business. His grandfather operated a cheese factory south of De Pere, Wis. His father, who was born above the factory, worked in the business his entire life. And as a kid, Kinate had summer jobs in the business.

Whether through destiny or hard work or a combination of both, Kinate is one of those people who has never strayed far from the industry. Through his career he has worked for a number of big players including Kraft and Sargento. It has been that breadth of experience that has served him well since he started Kineva in 1994 in Minneapolis.

Kinate left his position as Sargento’s procurement manager for cheese and ingredients to start Kineva — a small company representing a myriad of cheese industry concerns — because he saw the growth the dairy industry was experiencing.

“Sargento was in growth mode, and I saw opportunities for smaller companies, to sell them a pallet here and a pallet there,” Kinate says. Many companies, he notes, cater to large customers but smaller companies and their customers need the same quality of representation, cheese and services.

Kineva — a name coined by Kinate’s then 12-year-old daughter — is a broad cheese and service supplier for smaller cheese businesses and their customers. In the beginning, it started out with Kinate basically serving as a manufacturer’s representative, operating as a “one man show” for the first three years and representing about 15 companies. However, as time went on, customer needs began to lead the company into new areas.

In 1997, Kinate relocated the business to the Green Bay, Wis., vicinity and began adding employees and services.

Today the company has six employees and sells cheese throughout the Midwest as well as has a growing presence on the West Coast. In fact, the company earlier this year opened a branch office for the first time in California.

Kinate and Bill Novak, vice president of sales and procurement for the company, are Wisconsin licensed cheesemakers and graders and can grade cheese that clients wish to buy or sell. Among its services, the company also offers converting and an aging program.

Kinate says that the backgrounds and experience that he and Novak possess allow them to really understand the cheese they are selling.

“We grew up in this business. We know this business from the farm to the consumer,” he says.

Kinate and Novak do most of the company’s traveling throughout the Midwest, procuring and selling cheese. They acknowledge Kineva is a “quiet” company, but they say that just because it’s quiet doesn’t mean it isn’t fairly well known. In part, they think being out in the field with clients makes all of the difference.

“When we deal with people, we make face-to-face visits from time to time. That goes a long way,” Kinate says.

Part of expanding the company’s presence, therefore, meant making sure there was someone to do those face-to-face visits on the West Coast. Recent hire Danika Bowler, a graduate of Cal Poly, manages the new California office as director of sales for the western region. Back in Green Bay, controller Joey Hansen, office/customer service manager Jennifer Armbruster and administrative assistant Lori Lemon round out the company’s service-oriented approach.

Kineva essentially can handle any kind of cheese a customer wants, Kinate says.

“We offer a lot of cheeses across the board,” Kinate says, noting that specialty cheese sales — while maybe only 10 percent of the business at present — are growing rapidly.

“I can see that easily being a third of the business a year from now. We’re trying to be a strong player in that arena,” he says.

He notes in particular the growing demand for organic and rBST-free cheeses.
“It’s a big growth area, and it’s demanded of us out West,” he says.

The majority of the cheese the company handles is produced in Wisconsin, although that percentage could change as the business expands, Kinate says. Two-thirds of the company’s business is in the Upper Midwest but “we have a better presence west of the Mississippi than ever before,” Kinate says.

For customers who want cheese converted into shreds, slice and chunks, Kineva Converting was founded in 2001. This enables Kineva to offer a full line of retail, foodservice and industrial size packages. These products are available as private label or with the Kineva label.

Presently, Kineva Converting customers are evenly spread on Kineva-supplied cheese being packaged vs. the customer bringing in their own cheese for conversion. Kineva follows exact specifications for every package right down to how the customer wants it stacked on the pallet, Kinate says.

“We have the flexibility to handle each customer’s needs in that area,” Kinate says.

Kinate remains open to pushing into areas where there is a need to be met.

“We like to think we’re a one-stop shop,” Kinate adds. “We like to think we can match anyone’s needs.”

A relatively new area of the business is the aforementioned aging program, which the company started about a year and a half ago. The company ages mostly Cheddar blocks, as well as some barrels, for six to nine months.

“We saw a real need for a premium aged Cheddar to offer to customers around the country,” Kinate says, noting that this better rounds out the company’s product offerings.

In the future, Kinate is looking into other facets of the dairy business either by partnering with existing manufacturers, acquiring equipment or by expanding product offerings to include dairy products other than cheese.

In addition, Kinate expects the company to grow further its presence on the West Coast and in international markets.

CMN