Import the technology, not the cheese

Dairy Foods, Oct, 1992 by Alan Levitt

Employees: 45

Site: 28 acres

Plant: 29,000 sq. ft. (production 8,058 sq. ft.; packaging: 1,300 sq. ft.)

Curing: 2,730 sq. ft.

Warehouse: 950 sq. ft on site; 6,000 sq. ft. in Argyle, Wis.

Office: 2,280 sq. ft.

Cheese production: 25,000 lbs./day

MANAGEMENT

Chairman and ceo: Fermo Jaeckle President and coo: Steve McKeon Plant mgr.: Doug Zettle QA, R&D: Rene Weber Production supervisor: Rick Olson

RECEIVING/STORAGE

Bays: 1 Raw milk silos: 2 at 30,000 gal. Whey storage tanks: 3.1 at 5,400 gals. (raw whey); 1 at 5,400 gal. (separated whey); 1 at 2,500 gal. (Gruyere whey)

PROCESSING

Pasteurizer: 1 at 25,000 lbs./hr. Starter tanks: 2.1 at 300 gal.; 1 at 100 gal. Cheese vats: 5.1 copper at 15,000 gal.; 4 stainless-steel at 18,000 gal. Finishing tables: 8 at 725 lbs. each Separators: 2 at 25,000 lbs./hr. Pre-press vat: 1 at 1,200 lbs.

OTHER SYSTEMS

CIP: 1 Boilers: 2.1 at 80 hp.; 1 at 60 hp. Waste treatment: City water and sewer.

Roth Kase's goal: Full-line Specialty Cheese Supplier

The market for specialty cheese is growing twice as fast as demand for commodity styles, analysts say. Steve McKeon, president and chief operating officer of Roth Kase USA Ltd., attributes the growth to a more discerning consumer: "As people become more sophisticated in food categories, they move from one taste--which usually turns out to be pretty mild and bland--to different tastes," he says.

"People's tastes expand. The person who was buying a mild Cheddar 10 years ago is probably buying a year-old today and loves it," McKeon adds.

Roth Kase is banking its success on this shift in consumer attitudes. Created last year by Fermo Jaeckle, Felix Roth and Tony Zueger, the company is positioning itself to be a full-line supplier of specialty cheeses.

Jaeckle and Roth come from a long line of cheesemaking in Europe. Roth is chief operating officer of O. Roth A.G. in Switzerland. Jaeckle, chief executive officer and chairman of Roth Kase,worked for Otto Roth Co., which later became Dorman-Roth, one of the leading specialty cheese companies in the United States. There, Jaeckle met McKeon, who he brought on to manage the new company. Zueger owns several other cheese operations, including Chalet Land Haus and Walnut Cheese Co.

The formative years

During the formative stages of Roth Kase, the managers made a couple critical decisions. First, while most specialty-cheese manufacturers make no more than a few varieties, Roth Kase was determined to make many. The company makes a dozen now, and has more in development. Secondly, though the company has always been committed to specialty manufacturing, it understood that it had to make some commodity styles from the onset--like Muenster--to support itself while the specialty business was growing.

"Our original intention was to use commodities to get us out there, to give us weight on the trucks," McKeon says. During its first week of production, Roth Kase made strictly Muenster. Six months later, Muenster represented 80 percent of the plant's production. Today, the plant produces 50 percent specialty cheeses.