Turning a Cheese Cluster into the Napa Valley of Cheese?

I was in Green County, WI (county seat—Monroe) in SW Wisconsin for the keynote to their six county economic development organization. Unfortunately, I lost my voice. This is not a good thing for a speaker. I delivered the talk in a whisper, completely losing my voice only once. I felt pretty good when I got a standing ovation, which I thought was for the effort that I put into the talk. When I returned home my wife had another thought, “Perhaps they were just really glad that you were done and were standing up to head for the doors.” Sometimes it’s tough to get respect at home.

As I toured Monroe and Green County I was struck by how much potential they have to develop a niche as the “Napa Valley of Cheese.” Today cheese is considered a commodity product, much like wine 20 or 30 years ago. Thirty years ago there were only a couple of dozen wineries in California’s Napa Valley, churning out unexceptional products for an American consumer who had little taste for wine. Thru astute marketing, branding, and differentiation wine has changed their image as it has grown into a $22 billion industry. And, it appears to me that in many ways, cheese is a very similar product. And, SW Wisconsin has all of the ingredients to be at the center of it.

Green County’s Swiss heritage, rolling hills and dairy tradition (at one time there were more cows than people in the county) were all factors that turned the county into a major cheese producer. In 1930 the local producers started the Foreign Type Cheese Makers, Inc., focused upon keeping those producers on the cutting edge of technology. They’ve innovated such processes as turning whey from a waste product into a food additive and a secondary source of income.

Today Green County has more than a dozen cheese factories, most with less than 30 employees. The largest, Swiss Colony has 1000 and is headquartered in Monroe. This cluster has allowed companies to develop in the feed industry; animal processing; bakery (Swiss Colony); printing (food labels); stainless steel products; farm equipment (manure spreaders); trucking and warehousing. If the “Napa Valley of Cheese” were centered in Green County other companies would set up shop just as they have in the Napa Valley because of the burgeoning wine industry. Tourism would soar, art galleries would flourish and jobs would be created.

As it stands now, the master cheese makers are being recruited by other states. One left last year for Indiana. California has seen first hand the impact of Napa Valley. I hope that Green County, WI can maintain their cluster and develop it into the “Napa Valley of Cheese.” They’ve got all of the tools to do so. Now they just need a plan and a brand.