What You'll Learn
- How cheese factory runs organic and nonorganic production lines while keeping it simple.
- How QR-coded milk tracking traces any cheese batch back to the specific farms.
- What a batch traceback looks like, working backward from finished product to milk ticket.
- Why simple systems and thorough documentation make inspections manageable.
Watch Time: 9:12
This video profiles Cedar Grove Cheese, one of Wisconsin’s oldest cheese factories, operating since 1878 and making organic and nonorganic cheese under one roof. Owner Bob Wills bought the factory in 1989 and pursued organic out of genuine conviction, worried about chemical use on farms after seeing farmers he knew develop cancer, and believing organic was better for the cows, the people eating the cheese, and the environment. He also offers a candid business point, that knowing what your customer wants comes first, and that certification isn’t always necessary if your consumers already trust how you do things. For Cedar Grove, though, certification made sense, and the video shows how to keep organic certification manageable at a split operation.
The standout theme is traceability from farm to family. Every organic milk patron has a state-assigned number, and each pickup is logged through QR-coded stickers on the farm and truck, so any batch of cheese can be traced back to the specific farms the milk came from. Incoming milk is tested for antibiotic residues before it’s unloaded. Tank space is limited, so the operation doesn’t have dedicated organic tanks but always keeps a washed, sanitized, and labeled tank ready for organic milk. A logistics system records batch numbers, dates, ingredients, and weights, and finished cheese carries a sticker and QR code that can show customers the farms that supplied the milk for that cheese. General manager Debby Byrne demonstrates a batch traceback that starts from the finished product and works backward through the logistics system, the accounting invoices for ingredients, and the milk tickets.
The video keeps returning to a philosophy of simplicity and thorough documentation. Byrne notes that because everything in the plant is approved for organic use, the same materials work on both lines, which keeps things simple and reduces contamination risk. They start each day with nonorganic cheese production, then break to clean, sanitize, and document the cleaning before organic. Her advice to newcomers is practical and encouraging. Write down even the things that feel obvious, follow the product from start to finish the way a consumer would want to, and above all ask questions rather than assume you understand. Inspections take only four to five hours at Cedar Grove because the systems are dialed in, and while her first was nerve-wracking, the message is that the work is worth it for the pride of putting out a safe, quality product.
About the Featured Operation
Cedar Grove Cheese
- Organic Cheese Maker
- Plain, WI
- 28 Employees
- Certified Organic since 1995
A family-owned cheese manufacturer producing both conventional and organic cheeses, including cow, sheep, and goat varieties. Small enough to design productions directly to a customer’s specifications, it makes specialty cheeses and produces in bulk for other companies to label and market.
