The Arizona Cheese Company is a privately owned cheese producing company based in the area of Tempe, Arizona. Its products are sold on-site at the Milk n’More Store and are also sold at every farmer’s market in the area.
History
The Arizona Cheese Company was formed through a joint venture between the United Dairymen of Arizona (UDA) and the Wiskerchen Cheese Inc. (WCI) in 2007. This joint venture came about because WCI wanted to expand its blue cheese production operations. During those times, the UDA was also advertising about expanding its cheese business by developing its facility in Casa Granda (which was inactive at the time).
After finalizing the partnership, the two companies immediately started remodeling UDA’s facility, which was formerly a butter plant. A new building was added in order to accommodate the addition of two milk silos, as well as two whey silos. A pasteurizing facility for milk was also added. Remodeling of the internal plant was also done.
Currently, the cheese facility boasts of 40,000 pounds of cheese processing vats, for draining tables for whey, whey and curd handling equipments, a processing line for cheese packaging, and an area for producing artisanal cheese (for the production of old-world cheese). This Arizona plant is currently fully operational.
Almost two years after the company started, it began to produce cheddar cheese and Blue cheese. Gradually, the volume production increased, as the company’s customers also increased and a lot more people were patronizing its products. The company was soon producing about 500,000 pounds of milk everyday. In fact, the state of Arizona has become second only to the state of Wisconsin when it comes to the production of blue-veined cheeses.
Eventually, Arizona Cheese Company became the largest company to produce blue-veined cheeses for private labels all throughout the country. The company’s Blue Cheese and Gorgonzola Cheese can be found at Fry’s (sold under the store’s Private Label) and Safeway (under the Lucerne label) grocery stores.
All of the company’s blue cheese products are packed in bulk and then shipped to the state of Wisconsin, where it is stored in a cave-like environment for aging. After being aged and cured, the cheeses are then crumbled and packed before it is sold to customers all throughout the country.
The company’s products are certified by the USDA and the State of Arizona’s Department of Agriculture.
Stats
• Headquarters: Tempe, Arizona
• Ownership Type: Private
• No. of Employees: information not available
• Geography: USA
• Demography: retail cheese consumers, private label companies
Brands
Arizona Cheese Company®
Important links
Corporate Home Page
Products
Store Locations
Contact Information
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