Cheese processors add jalapeno, black pepper and other spices to their new products.

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.

How’s the dairy foods business? Which one? If you sell natural cheese or Greek yogurt, then the answer is: Great. If you bottle milk or package ice cream, then the answer might be: Things could be better.

Cheese processors requested Urschel engineers design a heavy duty, sanitary large cheese dicer. They needed a durable dicer possessing a number of key elements: a clean, sanitary design combined with rugged construction, but also they demanded a machine that would deliver precision cuts.

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.