DAVENPORT, Iowa ­— Swiss Valley Farms, a cooperative with about 1,100 Midwest dairy farmer members, is a full-service supplier of dairy products, providing customers with cheese, milk and cultured dairy products.

And there is a great deal of new activity going on all fronts, reports Ron Schroder, director of marketing, who says that much of the company’s recent success comes from the cooperative’s keen focus on quality and variety of product lines.

“Quality has been our selling story,” says Schroder. “Customers can have it all when they come to Swiss Valley. We have a knowledgeable sales staff that allows customers to meld any blend of products they are looking for.”

• Award-winning ... again ... and again

Like many companies, Swiss Valley counts success in a variety of ways — strong sales, happy customers, innovative products. But one achievement the co-op staff is particularly proud of these days is the co-op’s positive showings in competitions.

Late last year, a piece of Swiss cheese produced at the co-op’s Luana, Iowa, plant, received the chairman’s award ­— the top award presented at the annual National Milk Producers Federation’s Cheese Contest. Also in the Swiss cheese category, Swiss Valley Farms won second place with its regular Swiss from Platteville, Wis., and third place with its Baby Swiss made at Luana. Other awards won by Swiss Valley in this same contest were first place in the open class for cream cheese made at Luana and first place in the reduced-fat category for Neufchatel made at Luana.

This capped off an already exciting year; at the 2005 World Dairy Expo Dairy Product Competition, Swiss Valley dairy products picked up eight awards, including two firsts: one for cream cheese and one for blueberry lowfat yogurt.
2006 has started off well, too. In the World Championship Cheese Contest held this spring, cream cheese produced at Luana placed third in the Spreadable Cheeses class.

On top of the awards, Swiss Valley boasts two Wisconsin Master Cheesemakers: Richard Glick, certified in blue-veined cheese, and Bob Biddle, certified in Swiss.

About 70 percent of the company’s cheese is sold for foodservice and as ingredients. Swiss Valley’s cheese division consists of three production plants and one packaging plant located in Wisconsin and Iowa.

Schroder notes that Swiss Valley has a great deal of breadth in its cheese business. It makes approximately 10 percent of the nation’s Swiss and also is known for its blue-veined cheese. In addition, Swiss Valley sells a variety of co-pack branded cheese including Cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, Colby-Jack, Muenster and flavored varieties. The company also sells process cheeses.

The cheese sold at retail can be found bearing the Swiss Valley label, the Mindoro label (blue-veined cheeses), Bee’s Baby Swiss (so named because it’s a recipe developed by production supervisor Mike Bee) and a handful of other names. The cooperative’s branded retail cheese primarily is sold in the Midwest, with its foodservice and ingredient cheese sold nationally.

Swiss Valley can provide just about anything a customer needs, Schroder adds. Case in point: This month, the co-op launches a new 4-ounce wedge of Mindoro Blue to fill a need of retail customers, Schroder says.

Demand for natural Swiss is going strong and has kept Swiss Valley Farms busy as of late, Schroder also says. Both of the co-op’s plants in Swiss production — Luana and Platteville — have been extremely busy this past year, with particular strength in Swiss for the foodservice sector, Schroder says.

“Many restaurants are now offering deli-style sandwiches, and Swiss is one of the most complementary cheeses,” Schroder says.

As a result, new vats installed during the past few years in Luana and a recently-updated brine system in Platteville are paying off. The co-op continually invests in its plants to meet the needs of growing demand, he adds.

MEETING PRIVATE LABEL NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS — The private label packages produced by Swiss Valley’s Rochester Cheese subsidiary are proprietary per request of its customers. Among the products Rochester Cheese offers are hard Italian cheeses as well as Cheddar.

In addition, much of Swiss Valley’s cheese that is sold for ingredients is handled through the co-op’s wholly-owned Rochester Cheese subsidiary, a Minnesota business acquired by the co-op in 2001, and International Ingredient Systems, the technical “Dairy Ingredient Division” of Rochester Cheese. Rochester Cheese specializes in club Cheddars and other blended cheeses and also is a supplier of fresh grated and dehydrated hard Italian-style cheeses such as Parmesan and Romano for industrial as well as retail packaged private label use. International Ingredient Systems specializes in supplying dairy-based performance-specific products which are custom formulated to meet targeted requirements of food manufacturing companies.

• New yogurt highlights 2006

While cheese is important business at Swiss Valley, some of the co-op’s biggest news this past year involves yogurt. Last September, Swiss Valley introduced a new and improved yogurt line with more fruit flavor and a creamier texture than before. The World Dairy Expo award-winning blueberry yogurt is one flavor in that line.

All of Swiss Valley’s yogurts contain inulin, a natural dietary fiber. The inulin in Swiss Valley’s yogurt is from chicory root, a natural source. In addition to the known benefits of dietary fiber, there also is evidence suggesting that inulin strengthens the body’s natural defenses and improves the absorption of vitamins and minerals, Schroder says.

The yogurt is available in lowfat and light varieties. The lowfat yogurt contains 1.5 grams of fat and 160-170 calories per serving. The light yogurt is fat-free, contains 100 calories per serving and is sweetened with non-caloric sweetener. Several new flavors have been added to the line, including lowfat flavors Orange Crème, Vanilla and Lemon Pie, and Black Cherry and Raspberry in the light version.

The relaunch of the yogurt, which is found in redesigned 6-ounce (both light and lowfat) and 32-ounce containers (lowfat), has been supported by two full page FSIs, 10 billboards around the Midwest and radio and print advertising as well as point-of-sale materials.

Schroder says the yogurt relaunch has been Swiss Valley’s No. 1 focus for the past several months and that the yogurt has been well-received, with significantly-improved distribution and volume gains.

• Milk partners with comic cat

ATTENTION-GRABBING CAT — Garfield is being featured on Swiss Valley milk cartons to tie into the cartoon character’s new movie.

Swiss Valley’s yogurt has been getting a great deal of promotion this past year, but for kids and kids-at-heart in the Midwest, Swiss Valley’s use of Garfield in milk promotions may be the biggest attention-grabber.

Garfield the Cat is a favorite on the comics page as well as on the silver screen, and Swiss Valley is utilizing the cat’s likeness in its milk marketing.

Garfield starred in “Garfield: The Movie” in 2004, and the sequel, “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties,” is scheduled for release this month. Swiss Valley is commemorating the release of the new movie by featuring him on packages of its chocolate milk.

The cat already is appearing on cartons of Swiss Valley skim chocolate and 1 percent chocolate milk in schools, and has been well received. In fact, the co-op says one school foodservice manager wrote to Swiss Valley saying, “I just wanted to tell you what a great idea it was to put Garfield on the milk cartons. All of the children from K-12 noticed and wanted to get their milk. Terrific!”

Garfield is being featured on packages of Swiss Valley chocolate milk in grocery stores and other retailers beginning this month. Garfield also will be appearing in Swiss Valley promotional materials during the next several months including radio, billboards, magazines, coupon ads and point-of-sale material.

Schroder says Garfield is the perfect feline to promote chocolate milk — he’s a fun cat who enjoys indulgences and chocolate milk is an indulgent and fun product.

Looking further ahead, Swiss Valley Farms will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2008, and there are lots of plans to celebrate, Schroder says. Over the past 48 years, the cooperative has grown through mergers and acquisitions as well as internal growth, and Schroder expects more of the same in the coming years.

CMN