During a press conference held March 18 in front of its Appleton, Wis., cheese plant, Foremost Farms USA was awarded a $3.1 million Special Agricultural Facilities Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection for increased mozzarella production at the facility. Rod Nilsestuen, Wisconsin’s Secretary of Agriculture, made the announcement.
Dave Fuhrmann, president of Foremost Farms, accepted the grant on behalf of the cooperative and said, “Foremost Farms is very pleased that the Wisconsin legislature and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection have a strong desire to support and grow the state’s No. 1 industry. This grant will go toward doubling the production of mozzarella cheese at this plant. The combination of a strong demand for mozzarella cheese and the nearby availability of a growing milk supply among Foremost Farms members in eastern Wisconsin drove the decision to reinvest in the Appleton facility.”
The plant, located at 1815 West Spencer Street, currently has the capacity to produce 65 million pounds of mozzarella cheese annually for the pizza, foodservice and cheese converter markets. Foremost Farms plans to double the plant’s capacity so it can produce 130 million pounds of mozzarella annually. There are 91 people employed at the plant. The cooperative expects to add an additional 35 jobs once the construction project is complete and the facility ramps up to full production.
In addition to cheese, the plant further processes whey which is a by-product of cheesemaking. The whey will be made into condensed whey protein concentrate and permeate that will be processed within Foremost Farms’ plant system.
“We have the markets, our farmer-members can produce the milk – we need to add the plant capacity to fulfill those orders,” said Fuhrmann. “Foremost Farms appreciates the confidence of the State of Wisconsin and the financial contribution they are making to this project. It will help preserve market access for dairy farmers and provide quality products for customers who look to Wisconsin for quality cheese.”
Foremost Farms selected Miron Construction, Neenah, Wis., as the general contractor for the project which is expected to take 12 months.
Foremost Farms USA, headquartered in Baraboo, Wis., is a milk marketing cooperative owned by dairy farmers located in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. The cooperative’s 1,000 employees manufacture and market cheese, whey ingredients, butter and bulk fluid milk to domestic and international customers. Foremost Farms 17 plants are located in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. It has a marketing office in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2009, revenues were $1.14 billion.
