BelGioioso Cheese Inc. is a

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. BelGioioso Cheese currently operates eight manufacturing facilities, each plant making particular cheeses that are manufactured,

aged Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologi ...

, finished, packaged, and shipped from the facility.

History

The company was founded in 1979 by Errico Auricchio, whose great-grandfather was a cheese manufacturer in Italy. Auricchio started the company in

Denmark, Wisconsin Denmark is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,408 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is located within the town of New Denmark. Denmark began ...

, where he produced his first cheese,

provolone Provolone (, ) is an Italian semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk. It is an aged ''pasta filata'' ('stretched-curd') cheese originating in the Campania region, near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. P ...

, in a rented cheese plant in

Wrightstown, Wisconsin Wrightstown is a village in Brown and Outagamie counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,179 at the 2020 census. The village is surrounded mostly by the westernmost part of the Town of Wrightstown in Brown County. On Februar ...

. In 2021, Belgioioso Cheese entered into a purchase agreement with Groupe Lactalis to purchase Polly-O from the latter, as a requirement by the US Department of Justice's antitrust review of Lactalis's purchase from Kraft Heinz. Today, the company produces twenty-eight varieties of cheese, including, for example, the brand

Polly-O Polly-O is an American brand of cheese products, currently owned by BelGioioso Cheese Inc. The original Polly-O manufacturing company had been established in 1899, operating independently until it was acquired by Kraft Foods Inc. in 1986. Kraft ow ...

References

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External links

Official website
American companies established in 1979 Companies based in Green Bay, Wisconsin Dairy products companies of the United States Cheesemakers 1979 establishments in Wisconsin Food and drink companies established in 1979