May 15, 2009
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TOP NOTCH — Sartori Foods’ SarVecchio Parmesan has won numerous awards, including being named the overall champion at this year’s U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.

By Kate Sander

PLYMOUTH, Wis. — Cheesemaking is both an art and a science, and when both aspects have reached levels of excellence, great things can happen.

That’s what Sartori Foods has banked on, and the results are impressive. The company has long been known as having the ability to design cheese with just the right properties for a myriad of foodservice and other ingredient applications. In more recent years, the company has expanded its presence into the specialty cheese category. Sartori Foods prides itself on delivering creative solutions for specific customer needs, says Jim Sartori, president and CEO, Sartori Foods.

Previously, the company could create a solution for a specific item, and now it is delivering creative solutions through specialty cheese as well, Sartori says.

As the company was focusing on Italian cheeses as ingredients in the early part of the decade, more and more customers were expressing interest in seeing Sartori Foods cheeses at retail for personal use, Sartori says.

At the same time, specialty cheese was seeing significant growth. Sue Merckx, retail product manager, Sartori Foods, notes for instance that the specialty cheese category grew at nearly triple the rate of the non-specialty cheese category from 2004 to 2006, and specialty cheese is menued by more than 60 percent of restaurants.

“We saw great potential,” says Sartori, who notes that the company continues to see a great deal of opportunity in the specialty retail segment.

With a new vision to position itself as a forward-thinking specialty cheesemaker, Sartori Foods began to make its move into the specialty cheese market about five years ago through two different methods: acquisitions and inventions.

In 2005, Sartori Foods acquired Linden, Wis.-based Linden Cheese Co., which had recently closed its doors as a manufacturer of specialty cheeses with a focus on Blue. The Linden plant produces the company’s Dolcina Gorgonzola, which company officials describe as rich and slightly sweet.

Sartori Foods followed that acquisition with the purchase of Antigo Cheese Co., a manufacturer of premium, specialty aged cheeses with facilities in Antigo, Wis., and Blackfoot, Idaho, in 2006. Antigo Cheese was probably best known for its award-winning Stravecchio Parmesan, an extra-aged Parmesan, which the company since has renamed SarVecchio Parmesan.

Sartori Foods has taken the award-winning Parmesans and Asiagos made at Antigo’s plants and continued to perfect them — leading SarVecchio Parmesan to receive one of the highest honors a cheese can receive in the United States: grand champion at this spring’s U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay, Wis.

The company also had the ability to take its expertise in making cheeses with specific attributes for customers as well as a strong manufacturing infrastructure and blending them with artisan cheesemaking techniques.

“Innovative thinking: from master cheesemaker, to product scientist to manufacturing team members, we work collaboratively to deliver solutions to wow our customers,” Sartori says.

Using the Sartori Foods’ staff’s ability to innovate, the company has created other award-winning cheeses, including BellaVitano Gold, a highly-acclaimed Sartori original cheese.

After putting the cheese through its paces and settling on a successful formula, the company has found its niche in positioning the cheese as a table cheese for fine dining and retail. Recently, the company has worked to take the successful original product and add some on-trend twists, according to Merckx. Flavored varieties, including Raspberry BellaVitano and Black Pepper BellaVitano, have been particularly well received.

The company markets its specialty retail cheeses under the Sartori Reserve line and has added many other new cheeses to the line this past year including hand-rubbed Rosemary & Olive Oil Asiago, Basil & Olive Oil Asiago, Merlot BellaVitano, and Signature Blends. More cheeses are in the works, according to company officials.

“Our focus continues to be on innovation within the specialty cheese arena,” says Brad Nicholson, vice president, organizational development, Sartori Foods. “We offer unique customized solutions through people and processes, and we continue our focus on being a leader within the specialty cheese arena.”

In addition to its grand champion SarVecchio Parmesan at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, the company also received best of class for its Dolcina Gorgonzola and best of class for its Blue cheese as well as other top three finishes at this year’s contest.

Sartori Foods also gathered several other awards throughout the past year including its Raspberry BellaVitano winning Best American Cheese, Best New Product and a gold medal at the World Cheese Awards in Dublin, Ireland, where Sartori’s BellaVitano Gold also received a gold medal and its Black Pepper BellaVitano received a silver medal. The company’s cheeses also were award winners at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition and the World Dairy Expo competition.

All of the third-party accolades, Sartori says, reinforce that the company is emerging as an important presence in the specialty cheese industry.

“We’ve always had the Sartori name, not in the sense of branding, but in quality,” Sartori says, explaining how the company’s long history and expertise in the cheese industry is helping build the Sartori Reserve brand’s reputation for quality.

Sartori Foods celebrates its 70th anniversary this year after being founded in 1939 as S&R Cheese by Jim Sartori’s grandfather, Paul Sartori, and father, Joe Sartori. Jim Sartori is the third generation of Sartoris to run the business.

“A high level of continuity and consistency continues to drive our organization,” Sartori says.

“Family businesses are the heart and soul of this industry,” Sartori adds. “We’re very much committed to family ownership.”

The company has received a great deal of positive press in light of its recent awards, but Sartori also is quick to note that those successes wouldn’t be possible without strong business partnerships, the quality of milk provided by its patrons, and the entire Sartori team.

“The sense of pride our team members have is great,” he says.

And although the retail side of the business may be getting the most attention right now, the company has not forgotten its roots.

Foodservice and ingredient cheeses remain an important part of the business. In fact, while the company has worked to separately position itself as an artisan cheesemaker in addition to the ingredient business, there still are synergies between both segments, Sartori says.

For Sartori Foods, innovation was born on the ingredient side of the business, and continues here as well. The company now offers a new trademarked Intensa line, and other new customized cheese blends.

The Intensa intensified natural cheeses come in two formats, IntensaPaste and IntensaGrate. IntensaPaste is available in Blue and Cheddar types and IntensaGrate is available in Blue, Romano and Parmesan.

Also in 2008, Sartori introduced the trademarked Artisan Perfect Melt, a proprietary technology that offers a natural, controlled-melt cheese in different varieties and formats.

“This allows us to customize our product to meet the precise characteristics for a specific customer’s applications,” Nicholson says. “It can be used as a creative appetizer, salad or soup topper, or in other types of applications where people are looking for unique flavor and melt characteristics. That’s really where the strength of this product lies. It’s very much on trend with what customers are asking for at this time.”

In addition to strengthening its existing lines, Sartori says Sartori Foods will continue to look at new opportunities that present themselves in the marketplace. Earlier this year, the company celebrated the ribbon cutting of its new converting facility in Plymouth, Wis., which will be used to provide its customers with specialty cheese blends, customized formulas and different packaging formats.

“We’ve really had a great year,” Sartori says. “We have enhanced our position as an innovative product leader in the specialty cheese market and built a very strong foundation for the future.”

CMN