January 12, 2018
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CUBED VARIETY — Not only does Biery Cheese offer a number of cheese varieties in a cubed format, it also offers more than one size of cubes. This past summer, the company launched its new mini cubes (pictured on far left). The 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch cubes are currently available in 10- to 16-ounce packages of Cheddar Jack, Mozzarella Provolone, a fondue Gruyere Swiss blend and a 4-cheese blend of Swiss, Cheddar, Colby Jack and Pepper Jack.

EXTENSIVE LINEUP — Biery Cheese, which both manufactures and packages cheese, offers a broad line of sliced, block, stick, cubed and shredded cheeses for the dairy and deli cases.

By Kate Sander

LOUISVILLE, Ohio — It’s said the only constant is change, and with that in mind, Biery Cheese Co. is dedicated to adapting to what consumers need and want.

“One of the unique things we do is we’re not afraid to push the envelope and push trends forward,” says Ben Biery, CEO, Biery Cheese. “We’re always challenging ourselves on how we can support a segment or create a new niche market.”

Biery Cheese offers an extensive line of sliced, block, stick, cubed and shredded cheeses for the dairy and deli cases. The company was founded on making traditional Swiss almost 90 years ago, and today has a wide variety of other cheeses offered in its lineup including Creamy Havarti, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Gouda and flavored choices such as Horseradish and Smoked Hot Pepper.

The company also offers naturally smoked cheeses.

On its website, Biery Cheese lays out its vision: “We advance the innovation of food packaging. We provide service standards that others seek to achieve. We strategically expand our customer base. We present unified goals and growth opportunities to become the employer of choice.”

“We work to brainstorm what’s needed by talking to consumers, looking at how they use products and what we can do to improve options for them,” explains Biery, the fourth generation to run the family business. “We want to offer the best appearance and functionality and make sure the value is there for consumers.”

In recent years, innovating and providing new products and services for customers has included new varieties of packaging, new cheese varieties and cheese and meat combo packages.

The Biery legacy can be traced to the 1600s and the family’s home in Zweisimmen in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. In the United States, the company’s roots date back to the Norman F. Biery Farm, which was working extremely hard to sell its milk to bottlers during the Great Depression.

The farm, along with a group of other local Ohio dairy farms, started a co-op in 1929 to sell Swiss cheese that was made with the excess milk. The cheese was sold at farmers’ markets in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Now in its fourth generation of Biery family leadership, Biery Cheese continues to grow by making sure everything it does is focused on excellence, Biery says.

Though the generations have changed, the family values of hard work and dedication live on in its cheeses, he adds.

“We work to establish new products that hit a home run in terms of what the consumer wants,” Biery says.

The company strives to offer cheeses in formats and packaging that set it apart.

Biery Cheese offers its cubed cheese in convenient peel and reseal packages that are available in ready-ship displays. The company offers Pepper Jack, Colby Jack and Colby varieties, and there are plans to launch Swiss soon. In 2018, the company plans to offer a snack size option as well.

A new take on the cubes, Biery also is excited about the company’s launch of innovative new mini cubes. Introduced this past summer, the 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch cubes are currently available in 10- to 16-ounce packages of Cheddar Jack, Mozzarella Provolone, a fondue Gruyere Swiss blend and a 4-cheese blend of Swiss, Cheddar, Colby Jack and Pepper Jack.

The mini cubes are designed to melt well and are perfect for use in recipes as well as topping salads.

The difference between the mini cubes versus more common shreds, Biery says, is that they offer a cheesier flavor and substantive thickness that doesn’t “disappear” in recipes like shredded cheese sometimes does. As a salad topper, the mini cubes also offer a bit more of a bold, cheesier flavor, he says.

The company aims to provide customers with items that help make social engagement easier and also help to make memories.

Heading one of the newest packaging conveniences that the company now offers, a rigid bottom cheese tray, was Joseph Tomlinson, president, Biery Cheese Co. The new trays were introduced about a year ago and have been a hit with customers, Tomlinson says. Currently eight varieties of sliced cheese are available in this format.

“Our rigid bottom tray is unique and has a book opening feature with an imbedded lid for easy access,” Tomlinson says. “There’s no zipper and a consumer can pull out one slice at a time.”

Biery Cheese also offers meat and cheese trays to make entertaining easy for consumers. For example, pepperoni and salami join cracker-cut Cheddar and Colby Jack on 23.5-ounce trays that are ready to use the moment they are opened. The company also offers snack bites with cheese cubes, a ham and turkey variety and a shelf-stable option. All also are available as 13-ounce trays.

“The offerings have been available for private label customers for about three years and were introduced under the Biery brand about a year-and-a-half ago,” Biery says.

Added flavor is popular with consumers, Biery notes. An example of the company meeting that consumer demand, Biery Cheese offers a Colby Jack infused with a 3 Pepper Blend that offers more complex flavor notes than a traditional Pepper Jack.

The company also offers cheeses infused with meat proteins. Pasteurized Process Bacon Cheddar made by Biery Cheese won first in its class at the 2016 World Championship Cheese Contest. In addition, Biery Cheese offers a cheese melded with pepperoni, another meat that blends nicely with cheese, Biery says.

Biery Cheese’s products are available primarily east of the Mississippi River, with the majority of the company’s business in retail. The company, which packages about 85-90 million pounds of cheese annually, also has crafted efficient solutions for convenience stores and for sandwich applications.

To meet growing demand, Biery Cheese continues to reinvest in and grow its operations, Biery says. Expanding from its Louisville, Ohio, headquarters, the company acquired Kickapoo Valley Cheese Co. located in Sherry, Wisconsin, in November 2013 and followed up that acquisition with the purchase of Basic American Foods’ production facility in Plover in April 2014. The company then shuttered the Kickapoo Valley facility and moved those operations into the Plover plant, where it has made significant capital improvements. Both the Louisville, Ohio, and Plover, Wisconsin, plants are SQF Level 3 certified.

In addition to conventional cheeses, the company offers organic, kosher and rBGH-free cheeses and is currently working on a GMO-free certification. The company also has all necessary certifications to service the military.

CMN