PLYMOUTH, Wis. — U.S. cheese consumption keeps growing — it reached new highs again this past year — and innovations from companies like Sargento Foods continue to spur that growth.

Sargento always is looking for ways to add value to its cheese products, according to Kevin Delahunt, president, Sargento Food Ingredients.

This year, that has included the launch of Sargento Custom Melts, a line of dairy/cheese-based sauces that are solid at refrigerated temperatures. This patent-pending technology allows the delivery of product in shredded, diced, cubed and loaf formats, but the product quickly transforms to a sauce-like consistency at low temperatures.

The product has a number of applications for foodservice operators and as an ingredient for food processors, Delahunt says. Custom Melts won’t interact with other food products until heat is applied.

“For example, refrigerated vegetables with Custom Melts can be held for several days prior to heat application, which turns it into a sauce,” he says.

He also notes that portion control with the product is much simpler than with liquid products.

Refrigerated, the product line has a shelf life of 120 days; frozen, shelf life climbs to nine months. The product melts between 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The product currently is available in more than a dozen varieties, including Sharp Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Blue Cheese, Alfredo and Country Gravy.

“Consumers that tried Custom Melts in home use studies found it easy to use, and they liked that it’s refrigerated — they thought it gave the product an essence of freshness,” Delahunt says. “Custom Melts also appealed to consumers because it let them feel like they were actually cooking a meal for their family.”

For now, Sargento — which does about half its business in foodservice and ingredients — is making Custom Melts available to foodservice operators and food processors. The company also is looking into where the product line fits into its own Sargento-brand retail business.

“We’re studying how and where we might find applications in our own consumer products,” Delahunt says.

According to company literature, Custom Melts’ melt characteristics vary by application, with the other food components and the method of heating impacting the melt characteristics. If left undisturbed, Custom Melts will melt but not flow, a benefit for products such as hot sandwiches. In applications where products are stirred, the company says the sauce coats evenly and has good cling properties. Sargento’s R&D team works with customers to customize formulas to meet different needs in specific applications.

Delahunt says Sargento began showing Custom Melts to customers early in 2007 and the product is available across North America. The company publicly unveiled the product line at a press conference at the Institute of Food Technologists’ trade show last month in Chicago.

During the past 15 years, Sargento — which probably still is best known as a consumer products company — has been growing and investing in its food ingredients division, Delahunt says.

This year, that investment also has included the acquisition of Portionables Inc., headquartered in Bellingham, Wash., with an additional facility in North Sioux Falls, S.D. Portionables, now a separate subsidiary of Sargento, is a manufacturer of frozen sauces and other value-added food products.

“Portionables offered us an exciting and unique opportunity to secure best-in-class product development expertise and manufacturing,” says Sargento Foods Inc. Chairman and CEO Lou Gentine. “We believe that high quality sauces and meal solutions where cheese and other fresh ingredients are integral to the recipe offer significant opportunities to better serve the expanding product needs of our customers. The combination of Portionables’ individually quick frozen technology and our cheese expertise will help us realize this opportunity.”

Sargento continues to expand in other ways as well. In addition to the acquisition, the company is making capital improvements. This includes a recently-completed renovation and expansion at the company’s Elkhart Lake, Wis., technical center as well as a currently-under-construction renovation and expansion of its Plymouth, Wis., technical center and warehouse.

“We’re expanding our shipping and receiving to support our volume growth,” Delahunt says.

The company also continues to invest in its consumer product development.

In the past year, Sargento has launched Chipotle Cheddar in shredded and sliced forms as well as individually-wrapped snack sticks.

Sargento products remain popular with children, and the company offers snack products targeted to kids by entering into licensing agreements to use the likenesses of characters such as Shrek and Scooby-Doo. The company continues to look at other licensing opportunities.

The company also has introduced limited edition cheeses, which have proved to be popular, according to Delahunt. The first introduction — Vermont White Sharp Cheddar — sold out faster than the company anticipated. The second cheese — Aged Provolone — also is doing well. The cheeses are kept on the market for about six months before the next cheese is introduced. The third variety can be expected on store shelves in September, but Delahunt isn’t ready to divulge what cheese that might be.

In addition, Sargento just now is launching Artisan Blends, shredded cheeses which pair various Sargento cheeses with specialty artisan cheeses. The cheeses will be available in 3-, 5-, 8- and 10-ounce packaging at retailers nationwide in September. The approximate retail price is $1.99-$4.99, depending on package size.

The line includes a Mozzarella and Provolone blend and whole milk Mozzarella blend, both made with whole milk Mozzarella from Burnett Dairy, Grantsburg, Wis.; Double Cheddar with Sharp Cheddar from Maple Leaf Cheese Co., Monroe, Wis.; a Swiss blend using Grand Cru Gruyere from Roth Käse, Monroe, Wis.; and a Parmesan blend and a Parmesan and Romano blend, both made with Grana Padano Parmesan from the Zanetti family in Italy.

“These new products spring from our monitoring of emerging flavors at restaurants and marketing research with consumers, who’ve told us of their growing interest in authentic specialty cheeses,” Delahunt says.

Delahunt says that while the company is large — it employs more than 1,200 people at its three Wisconsin facilities in addition to the recently-acquired Portionables’ facilities — it is set apart from other companies due to its emphasis on cheese.

“Our company is focused exclusively on cheese and cheese-based solutions. We are not confused by priorities in other food categories,” Delahunt says. “We think that is a core strength of Sargento Foods.”

Sargento Foods, founded in 1949 as a mail-order cheese business and retail store in Plymouth by Joseph Sartori and Leonard A. Gentine Sr., is owned today by the Gentine family.

“We also are strengthened by the fact that we are a family-owned business, which provides us with the luxury of a long-term focus,” Delahunt says.

The company’s commitment is to provide excellent cheese and the highest level of customer service, as defined by both quality and speed of interaction, Delahunt adds.

“We believe our work force at all levels of the company is second to none in the food industry,” he says.

CMN