The 2013 Wisconsin Cheese Industry Conference (WCIC) will see more than 1,400 cheese industry leaders from around the nation gather for the latest in cheese technology, product safety, marketing and dairy issues. The conference, which is co-hosted by the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research and Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, takes place at La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., April 17-18.

Specialty and artisan cheeses are in this year. Cheesemakers are putting their efforts into developing all-natural and low-fat varieties. And processors are planning a wide variety of capital investments, including form-fill-sealers, cutting equipment, vats and tanks.

Tucked away in a small town in Wisconsin is Bel Brands USA’s Little Chute plant, the smaller of its two cheese plants. Last October the plant was the first of Bel’s to get the Foundation for Food Safety Certification (FSSC) 22000.

In a saturated landscape of cheese and dairy farmers in Wisconsin, one little goat farm is doing what it can to stand out with award-winning goat cheese and milk.

Crave Brothers, a family-owned and-operated dairy farm and cheese factory tucked away in Waterloo, Wis., is garnering attention with its award-winning farmstead cheeses and green story.

Chicago-based Bel Brands USA, makers of The Laughing Cow, Mini Babybel and Boursin cheese (among others) has become a rising star in the snacking and portable cheese category, having doubled its revenues in the last four years. Its Laughing Cow masterbrand (The Laughing Cow and Mini Babybel) is now America’s number one branded snacking cheese.

During the past few years, pressure to manufacture good tasting low-fat and reduced-fat options for the foodservice and ingredient industries has grown. New limits and regulations have led to even greater pressure on the dairy industry to produce and manufacture such products. While we face some challenges, the dairy industry has already developed several solutions.

Swiss Valley Farms chief executive officer Donald A. Boelens was dealing with volatile milk prices and a collapsing export market in 2008-2009. Looking back, he says he knew there had to be a better management structure, one that could allow the company to take advantage of opportunities caused by price fluctuations and at the same time deal with the hardships.

The Wisconsin Process Cheese Short Course is a two-day hands-on short course designed to cover the basics of formulation and manufacture of pasteurized process and cold-pack cheese products. Read More

At this FSSC 22000 certified cheese plant, Bel products cold-pack and gourmet cheese spreads and logs, including WisPride, Kaukauna, Boursin and Merkts. Bel Brands is the U.S. subsidiary of Fromageries Bel, Paris.

This photo gallery contains additional, unpublished photos of dairy processing facilities featured in Dairy Foods magazine. To view more Behind the Scenes galleries go to our archives page!