Locally Produced Natural Cheese Feeds Appetites
Posted on: Sunday, 23 March 2008, 06:00 CDT
By Stefanie Monge, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
Mar. 23--BRAINARD, Neb. -- David Jisa's family has been in the dairy business more than 60 years, but three years ago Jisa saw a new opportunity in consumers' increased appetite for locally produced food.
That was the beginning of Jisa's Farmstead Cheese, an enterprise that makes about 20 varieties of all-natural cheeses using milk from the family's 300 cows. The cows receive no hormones or antibiotics, Jisa said, and they eat only feed derived from the grain he grows on 3,000 acres.
Consumer interest in locally produced products is more than just a fad, said Elaine Cranford with the Nebraska Center for Cooperative Development at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
It's moving into the mainstream, she said, because consumers want the freshest products available, and they realize that probably means local foods that don't travel so far.
"Would you rather buy a tomato picked this morning, or one that was delivered on a truck last week?" Cranford asked. "It makes sense to people. If you can get it here, then why not?"
Jisa is the largest specialty cheese maker in the state, although several smaller operations have sprouted in the past couple of years.
He learned how to make cheese with the help of staff members at UNL's Food Processing Center and his in-laws.
Jisa's wife, Bonnie, grew up making cheese with her family. Her parents, Donald and Elizabeth Wadzinski, owned and operated Dodge Dairy in Dodge, Neb., from the early 1960s until 1989. Jisa's brother-in-law is the plant manager at the Maytag blue cheese plant in Newton, Iowa.
Jisa acquired equipment at auctions nationwide and installed it himself in a 6,000-square-foot plant he built a half-mile from the dairy farm. The plant employs about a dozen people, mostly part-time workers.
The plant produced the first batch of Jisa's Farmstead Cheese, a couple of varieties of cheese curds and several flavors of Monterey jack, in March 2005.
Jisa initially sold the cheese at local farmers markets, but now it is available at selected groceries across the state.
The company is seeking a statewide distributor in order to increase production volume and take the business to the next level, Jisa said.
Jisa's Farmstead Cheese currently is distributed by Dillons, which owns Baker's Supermarkets, to about 100 stores in Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. But most retailers rely on deliveries by one of Jisa's employees, which limits his ability to sell the cheese outstate.
Pac'n Save grocery in Seward, Neb., was the first store to carry Jisa's cheese, and it continues to sell well, said store manager Paul Mueller.
Homemade and locally produced items appeal to customers and receive lots of support from the community, Mueller said. Shoppers are always on the lookout for new local foods, he said.
Jisa's Farmstead Cheese has added new varieties every year and is working with several restaurants to develop cheeses for them, Jisa said.
The plant is not yet running at full capacity but still produces about 2,000 pounds of cheese a week, he said.
Eventually, Jisa said, he hopes to produce enough cheese so that the operation uses 100 percent of his dairy's milk. Twenty percent of Jisa's milk now goes to cheese-making, and he sells the remainder to the Dean Foods milk plant in Le Mars, Iowa.
Jisa said it's difficult to compete with large companies that produce less expensive processed cheese from milk byproducts. His cheese, made only from 100 percent Grade A whole milk, sells for about $4 for an 8-ounce package, Jisa said.
The cheese is equally popular in urban and rural communities, and at small specialty stores and large supermarkets, he said.
Among the stores selling Jisa's Farmstead Cheese are Cubby's in the Old Market, Baker's, Hy-Vee and Whole Foods Market in Omaha.
Jisa's jalepeno jack cheese is consistently among the top-selling cheeses at Whole Foods, said Amy Cherko, associate team leader for specialty foods.
Whole Foods sells between 20 and 40 pounds of Jisa's Farmstead Cheese a week, Cherko said.
Many customers ask about locally made cheeses and are excited to hear that they're available, she said.
"People think about Omaha Steaks, not cheese, when they think of cows in Nebraska."
Kate Klotz, a spokeswoman for Whole Foods, said the company has introduced more locally grown foods at its stores nationwide in response to customer demand.
That doesn't surprise Jisa or UNL's Cranford.
In the past, Jisa said, most food was grown at home and prepared at home. But now with so much processed food available, homemade goods are premium products, he said.
People prefer to buy directly from the producer so they know who is growing their food, Cranford said.
"People think it's important to feel comfortable with your doctor and dentist," she said. "Why not with the person who is providing your food?"
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Source: Omaha World-Herald
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