February 13, 2015
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Great Lakes Cheese launches organic cheese for store brand customers

A NEW LINE OF CHEESE — This next month, Great Lakes Cheese will roll out its first organic cheese products for private label. For customers who might not already have their own private label brand for organic products, Great Lakes is offering the Thoughtful Organics brand.

CONTINUALLY INNOVATING — Great Lakes Cheese’s highly-successful cracker-cuts line features small cheese slices, just the right size for a cracker, in rigid, recloseable containers. Consumers can grab a few slices for a snack or serve it right on the tray for easy entertaining.

By Kate Sander

HIRAM, Ohio — Great Lakes Cheese Co. Inc., a leading private label manufacturer, will enter the organic cheese business next month with nine organic cheese products for private label customers.

“Private label organic cheese is a growth area for our retail customers,” says Lisa Schechterman, product marketing manager, Great Lakes Cheese Co.

Sales of organic cheese are growing annually at a rate of 30 percent, Schechterman notes, and while the overall category is still quite small, that kind of growth potential is significant.

Adding organic cheese is important to Great Lakes Cheese so the company can help its retail customers compete as consumer interest zeros in on fresh and natural products. Great Lakes Cheese must step up to help its retail customers not only protect their core private label cheese business but also to grow their share of the cheese case, Schechterman says.

“It’s a small niche market, but the time is now,” Schechterman says, adding that consumers — particularly Millennials — are demanding more in terms of organic products.

Beginning in March, the company will offer nine organic SKUs. Mild Cheddar, Mozzarella and Colby Jack will be available in 6-ounce bars. In slices, the company initially will offer 6-ounce packages of Colby Jack, Mild Cheddar and Provolone. Additionally, there will be three shredded products in stand-up pouches — 6-ounce 3 Cheese Mexican Fancy Shred, 6-ounce Mozzarella Fancy Shred and 6-ounce Mild Cheddar Fancy Shred.

“This is just the beginning of our interest in organic cheese and what we can offer our customers,” Schechterman says.

Up until the last 3-4 years, much of the organic cheese available was sold in specialty supermarkets. With Great Lakes Cheese offering organic products to its customers, it makes organic products even more accessible to consumers, says John Epprecht, vice president, co-manufacturing, Great Lakes Cheese.

The company, which operates eight plants nationwide and is about to open a ninth, is outsourcing the production of the cheese to a certified organic facility but has gained its own certifications from the Midwest Organic Services Association for packaging and converting the cheese. Epprecht says Great Lakes Cheese has positioned its organic supply chain for healthy growth in the future.

For retail customers who have already been offering consumers private label organic products, including milk, yogurt and cream cheese, organic cheese is a natural line extension. For other customers who might not already have their own private label brand for organic products, Great Lakes is offering the Thoughtful Organics brand.

“Some customers are already committed to organic in other areas, and they won’t need the Thoughtful Organics brand. But for some, this will be a new opportunity,” Schechterman says.

The decision to offer organic cheese is the result of Great Lakes Cheese’s retail customers’ focus on growing their private label business. As Great Lakes Cheese’s customers began to push to differentiate and grow their store brands, Great Lakes Cheese made a commitment to provide its customers with a relevant product portfolio, including “me-too” items and completely new-to-the-market products.

“It really started with customers coming and asking us for new innovative ideas,” Epprecht says.

Once known as “generic” products that lacked innovation, what the industry still calls “private label” has significantly changed, Epprecht continues. Customers now want to innovate.

“It isn’t private label anymore. It’s their private brand, their store brand,” Epprecht says.

To that end, Great Lakes Cheese continues to develop products that help retailers compete for market share. The company is now offering shredded cheeses in 8-ounce and 16-ounce stand-up pouches, pouches that have become increasingly popular in the industry since first introduced in 2013. Stand-up pouches in 1 1/2-pound and 3-pound sizes, ideal for club stores, are “coming soon,” Schechterman adds.

Great Lakes Cheese has expanded its crumble options, too, expanding its core crumble program to six cheeses, including reduced-fat Blue and reduced-fat Feta. The company also has plans to begin offering goat cheese crumbles.

Great Lakes Cheese is debuting a sleeved offering of two 4-6 ounce containers of crumbled, shredded or shaved cheese. The Italian combo features shredded Parmesan and shaved Asiago. The Salad combo will feature crumbled Blue and crumbled Gorgonzola.

One of the areas of greatest innovation is a line Epprecht is particularly proud of: Great Lakes Cheese’s highly-successful cracker-cuts. Introduced a little more than four years ago, the line features small cheese slices, just the right size for a cracker, in rigid, recloseable containers. Consumers can grab a few slices for a snack or serve it right on the tray for easy entertaining.

In 2015, customers can expect to see more specialty cheese types in this line, Epprecht says.

This year, there also will be 30-ounce entertainment packages offered in club stores that feature three varieties of 10 ounces of cracker cuts in a retail ready box.

The company also is adding to its party tray program with two different meat options — one featuring beef coins and cheese and one featuring turkey bites and cheese. These are in addition to the company’s ready-to-serve 16-ounce party trays. Available cheeses will include “premium” cheeses such as Havarti, Gouda and aged Cheddar.

In addition, Great Lakes Cheese continues to offer private label customers “skinny” cheese slices, a product style that was introduced by branded companies and has proved popular among calorie-conscious consumers.

Innovation also continues to come in the form of new flavors.

“Flavor innovation continues to be driven by the marketplace. Customers always want to know what’s next,” Epprecht says.

In the past couple of years, Great Lakes Cheese has worked on further developing cheeses with strong flavor profiles such as horseradish Cheddar and habañero Cheddar. In addition, several flavors are under review at this time.

“Our commitment to customers is to advise them on new trends, and on what’s viable and what’s not,” Epprecht says. “Flavor innovation is always relevant.”

All of this innovation and growth has necessitated more manufacturing and converting capacity. To keep up, Great Lakes Cheese is on the cusp of opening its first Southeast manufacturing facility in Manchester, Tenn. The new 330,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the Manchester Industrial Park will be the company’s fourth “super” plant. The company also has facilities in Hiram, Ohio; Fillmore, Utah; Plymouth, La Crosse, Wausau and Seymour, Wis.; and Adams and Cuba, N.Y.

CMN