Episode 60 - Steve Stetter - Decatur Dairy

Today we’re heading to Decatur, Wisconsin to talk with someone who’s been shaping the state’s cheese story for decades. Steve Stettler is a Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker, but what really stands out is the way he approaches the work — steady, consistent, and rooted in the community around him.

Decatur Dairy isn’t flashy; it’s a place built on craft, good milk, and people who care about doing things the right way. Steve’s spent his life in that rhythm, and this conversation gets into the heart of what it means to carry on a local tradition with pride and purpose.

About Us | Decatur Dairy

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

All right, there we go. All right, we are live, everyone, with Stream of Consciousness with Dan. Today's guest is someone I'm genuinely honored to have on the show. Steve Stettler, longtime cheesemaker at Decatur Dairy, and not only a cheesemaker, a Wisconsin master cheesemaker, whose work has earned multiple awards over the years, including recognition at the World Championship Cheese Contest and the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest. Decatur Dairy has a reputation for consistency and craftsmanship. And Steve has been the center of that for decades. This episode means a lot to me personally. My parents literally live just down the road from Decatur Dairy. I'm talking about eight miles away. As you can see here. And on the back it says curd is the word. So if you hear some rustling in the background, that is my curd is the word shirt. So I'm so grateful you're here today, Steve. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Ah, great.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Great. I'm doing very well as well. I'd be doing better if I had a plate of Decatur Dairy cheese curds in front of me right now, obviously. But I I I'm doing pretty well.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Yeah, an all I hear, yeah. Or a grilled cheese.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Oh yeah. Oh that'd be good too. So Steve, you've been a part of Decatur Dairy for what almost 40 years.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Yeah, I've been here. So I've been here since 73.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Oh, geez, even more. Okay. Yeah, but I'm kind of an old blog. Okay. But I I've talked to uh quite a few Wisconsin uh cheese makers throughout uh my journey, and everyone has nothing but the utmost respect for you and what you do. So I'd love to just kind of hear the early part of your story, just kind of how you got into cheese and just start kind of at the beginning, if you will.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Well, I I mean I grew up in a cheese factory, you know. I was probably born and back in the cheese factory in like 24 hours. So um Farmer's Grove in New Glarus is where you know I grew up uh till I was about 18. Then we moved down here uh at uh brought it down at Decatur. Um so yeah, I've always been around cheese. My dad made Swiss cheese up at Farmers Grove, and we started making some Munster up there. So that's when we first got introduced to Munster Cheese, and then we moved it. My dad had an opportunity to buy a little bigger plant down in Broadhead, so we made the switch and moved to Broadhead, and and I've been here ever since. I went to college for a little over a year, and then dad was having some problems at at home with work and help, and uh offered me a chance to buy in. So I took the chance and been here ever since.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Oh man, that's so cool. And I have to drop this in. So I had uh interviewed Chuck Bigler.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Yeah, I know Chuck.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Uh yep, he was like, yeah, uh, because you went to high school together, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Yeah, he was a little older than me. I I ran around with his brother uh more than Chuck, but I I've known Chuck my whole life.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Oh, that's so cool. Uh yeah, so my aunt and uncle used to live in New Glaris, so I have a lot of connections to Nu Glaris as well, and just love it up there.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Uh yeah, I kinda I kind of patronize pimples a little bit, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Why do you patronize them?

SPEAKER_02 4:24

It's just a bad habit, you know, ever since uh I got out of high school. You you can't go to Nu Glaris without going to Pimples.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Oh gosh, that's so funny. My wife and I love going to pimples, it's so much fun. Uh we love going everywhere up there, but uh no, like I said, I've talked to so many cheesemakers around the state, and everyone has been so respectful in the industry. So can you kind of just touch on what that means and why that you know relationship and close-knit community is so important?

SPEAKER_02 5:01

Well, I you know, I've been fortunate through marketing, through uh the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association, you know, to meet a lot of people in the industry and uh, you know, they've become friends. Um I I really don't know how it happened. I mean, I I know a lot of people in the industry nationwide, and I know almost everybody in Wisconsin. It's just something I've done, you know, and it's just something that's happened uh through the industry that I've met a lot of people and uh built relationships.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Well, that's great. So I I that's a perfect segue into what I want to ask is kind of just what being from Wisconsin means to you, because I think we are a proud state. I I was born there, my parents live there now, and I will always consider myself a Wisconsinite. But what does being from Wisconsin mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Well, I mean, it's always been you know an attraction for the Illinois people, even as a kid, you know. People would search out our little factory up in New Glaris and come and buy cheese. You know, it wasn't to the magnitude that it is here in Decatur over the years, you know, we build a reputation, and people now in this day and age kind of seek out establishments like mine. You know, it's a little different. You get fresh cut cheese, and people are chasing the cheese, you know. It's it's kind of kind of it's kind of a unique industry in that respect.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

No, that's fair enough. And I had watched your um segment. You had the opportunity to meet with uh Luke Zom of Wisconsin Foodie.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

So I had him on the podcast uh a month or two back, and he did such a good job of uh kind of explaining just how to make cheese. So I kind of wanted to pivot to simply for the average dummy like me. How do you actually make cheese? You don't have to give anything proprietary, but just how do you make cheese?

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Well, it's just it's times, temperatures, you know, good milk, uh, good starter. You know, starter has changed so much over the years. So you temper the milk to 90 degrees, you add your cultures, you know, you have a start-out time of whatever you want to do to uh advance your culture, then you set the vat with rennet. Rennet is, you know, in the old days was made uh from a calf's stomach, you know, the enzymes. Um so we use the rennet, we set the vat 30 minutes, it turns into curd, you cut it, and then depending on what cheese you make, you know, you heat it. You can either heat it with water, you can heat it with steam, you know, and it depends on the process. And then whether you're making a cheddar, whether you're making a munster, you know, it all changes after that. And all milk, you know, is white, so you add a color which is pretty universal, a nottle, which is a natural color made from a seed. Um, so yeah, if you're making cheddar, you add a little color. If you're making uh vanilla colored cheese, you add just a touch of color. You know, and milk is very susceptible to changing color. So it's it's an easy liquid to um change, pretty much. So yeah, it all starts out the same. Uh, milk, cultures, red it, and then after that is where it changes on what cheeses, what cultures you use, and what processes you use.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

I just love that because it's so interesting. Everyone that I've interviewed has said the exact same thing that you've said. But I love still asking that question because you still have some a special secret or something, and you don't have to give it away, that makes Decatur dairy so good and makes other dairies so good as well. I mean, you're winning awards. Is it the people? Is it the quality of the milk? Or what do you think kind of makes Decatur stand out?

SPEAKER_02 9:47

Well, sometimes it's just your building, you know, the environment of your building can also influence the flavor of your cheese, you know. Um, it's it's kind of hard to explain. You know, you build an environment in your building that creates a flavor sometimes, and hopefully it's a good environment with healthy bacteria. And sometimes it's just the building, sometimes it's the water, you know, and and and then the talent, but there's so many different cultures now that you can mix, blend, you know, that will just give you that little extra flavor that some guys just don't know about. Um, and there's a lot of talent in Wisconsin, you know, the cheesemakers here use all the tools they can use to create, you know, the best products they can make.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, well that's a that's a perfect answer because I also wanted to talk about maybe your process again. Not necessarily, is it super traditional or is it modern or is it a hybrid, or kind of how do you balance that?

SPEAKER_02 11:08

We're we're manual, semi-automatic. I mean, we don't have automatic controls. We don't we we do have some timers that are automatic, but everything is acknowledged in our make processes, so the cheesemaker is always looking at the curd. So at the end of the at the end of the make process, we know exactly what we got. Um, if there's a problem, if there's not a problem, and we deal with it through the make process, but everything's acknowledged and watched closely by a cheesemaker. It's just not add the milk, keep the lids closed, and uh computers and everything make the cheese. It just we did we just don't operate that way. And there's a lot of plants do the same thing, then there are other plants you know that are fully automated, and that's how the that's how the company wants to run, you know. So we're more artisan than sitting there watching the clock.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

No, that's awesome. You can definitely taste it, I think. Um I always just give this example because I live in Omaha, Nebraska, which isn't necessarily known for its cheese, obviously. And you go to the grocery store and get this crappy block of cheddar, and you're like, okay, this is okay, whatever. And then I'll get like a block of your cheese, and I'm like, holy crap, this is this is cheese. Like, this is actually what cheese tastes like.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

So well, the misconception on the misconception on cheddar is you know, it only has to be 60 days old to be called aged cheddar, you know, and and they changed all them rules, you know, to be aged cheddar. I don't even know if it needs to be a year old. So people buy a product that says aged and it's not really that aged. You know, when you come to our place, my average age on my medium cheddar, just cheddar I sell over the counter is six to eight months. I mean, that's how old it's so in a store that would be called aged cheddar. Um, but that's my that's my just go-to uh table cheese, you know. Our aged cheddar is minimum uh uh 14 years old to 20 years old. Yeah, I mean so I mean it it's a misconception on what is really aged and what really isn't aged, and when people actually get an aged cheese, they can't believe the flavor they get, you know, compared to what and some stores do it right, you know. There some stores do do it right, and people know which stores those are because they can tell what the flavors are, but you know, we cut everything fresh off the block, which I learned as a young, young man, that makes a big difference than packaging it. And you know, you buy a piece of cheese out of a store, and they've sucked the life out of it because it's a little one-pounder and they vacuum pack and suck you know all the flavor out, kind of around the edge, anyway, at least. So you don't get the true raw flavor of the product.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

No, absolutely. And like I said, I can taste that in your cheese. And so I want to get a little back to the basics as well. I want to talk about the milk. Um, where do you get your milk from? And uh, I mean, we've touched on this, but why is that so important?

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Well, we have 50 51 farms, 50-51 farms. Um, you know, they're all they send their milk here every day. Uh we are we are farmer-owned. I mean, it's a partnership. The farmers own part of the building, I own part of the building, and it's a relationship we build over the years. So it's more of a partnership uh between a cheesemaker and a farmer. So I get I get the same milk every day from the farms, and we try and keep it fresh, you know. We don't want it getting over 48 hours old. We try and run it through the vats before it's that old, you know. We try and keep it only 24 hours old, but if we're off on the weekends, come Monday, you know, some of that milk's 42 hours old, but it's still with uh with the commitment of the farmer now and the quality, it's really good milk.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

No, absolutely. I've heard that a lot. Um, do you think there is something about the landscape or just the environment of uh I think what Green County? Is that you're in Green County?

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Yeah, I'm I'm a Green County boy.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

So do you think there's something about that environment that makes the milk uh maybe more special than say somewhere else that's making cheese?

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Well, the myth is uh the limestone that we have here, you know, we have limestone, it's pretty abundant in Green County. So the limestone creates uh a grass product, you know, either alfalfa or hay, um, you know, which is more unique probably than other parts of the state, and then the water, you know, our aquifer is uh probably one of the best in the state compared to other areas, you know, and it does come down to clean water and the environment that you grow your crops with.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Yeah, well that's definitely fair enough. And I really wanted to ask you, because I think it's very important when I label you as a master cheesemaker, that means something. It's not just a label, it's you worked your tail off to do that. So could you just kind of describe that process because it's very unique to Wisconsin?

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Well, a master program is a passion, you know, you gotta have the passion and the desire to become a master. So you're licensed, you know, Wisconsin's the only state to have licensed cheesemakers. So you're licensed for 10 years and then you apply to be a master. Uh you do an oral interview, you know, they ask you standard questions to see where you're at with your education and your knowledge of making cheese. So once you get through that, then you get into the program, there's three um three years of grading, and then you do take courses through that three years, you have to be accredited in certain areas, uh, AFSA, you know, sanitation, all the basics of cheese making. You have to have knowledge and and be accredited that you got the knowledge to do that. And then uh once you once you grade your product for three years, they test your product every year. Then you go in and you take the test, which is uh pretty intense. It's uh I don't know, it's over a hundred questions. A lot of them are problem solving on how do you make a better product, how do you correct a problem, and that, and then that that will certify you as a master cheesemaker. And the program has had more of a following than any of us ever imagined. You know, I I got certified in '99, and it's as strong or stronger now than it was back in '99, which is kind of hard to believe we've kept that interest in that program this long. And I don't see I don't see it slowing down. I mean, there is there's a group of young guys that really have cheese making at heart, and uh they want to be part of the program. Well, maybe they want to be like us, I don't know. Whatever. But they want to be they want to be part of the program. And and you know, they're they're really respectful, and uh they appreciate the knowledge and and the bonding that you create being a master, you know, it opens doors to other people and other ideas.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Oh, absolutely. I was just gonna say competition breeds competition um in the best way. Uh why do you think more states aren't doing that? I've never really asked this question, but why do you think more states, well not more states, any other state isn't doing that?

SPEAKER_02 20:09

I don't think they have the tools uh like we do in Wisconsin. I mean the UW is a large, vast uh just a large, vast pool of knowledge, you know, that in the dairy industry you should take take uh take an interest to. I mean, they have I mean we have one of the best dairy schools in the country with Babcock, you know, and the research that they do and the knowledge that's there is impeccable, you know, in the nation. And the program was generated by Jim Path, who traveled around the world and ran into, you know, certified cheesemakers and programs that enhance product quality, and that's where it all started.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

I I I just think it's super cool because like I said, you you see master cheesemaker and you're just like, okay, he's uh cheesemaker, but it's truly a process as you as you explained it so well. So I just love that, and it comes through in your cheese. So if you don't mind, I'm gonna throw the curveball in.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

I already probably know what's coming.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Oh, are you sure?

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Uh everybody always asks me the same damn question. Like, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

We're doing Mount we're doing Mount Rushmore of cheese.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yep, I knew it. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Steve, you're making me look like an idiot.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

No, no, no. I you know how many people and and I gotta tell you, if you're gonna ask me what my favorite cheeses are. It changes all the time.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

But that's my answer is as well. I just like to hear it because it's weird. You'll like get another cheese and you'll taste another cheese and you'll be like, oh wow, where's this bed?

SPEAKER_02 22:16

So what's your favorite cheese today?

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Uh oh well, my favorite cheese of all time is brick.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Which which, you know, I grew up around brick my whole life. And brick is a unique cheese that always can have different flavors depending on how you age it.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah, I absolutely love brick. Um I had Joey Widmer out of Whidmer's brick up in the I forget where it is, but uh I just I just love brick cheese. I actually might be making something with that tonight. I'm not quite sure yet. But that's that's easily my number one amount rush more. Brick cheese needs to be on.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

I make I make a master brick, so I add a little Limburger culture, which is kind of unheard of. I just have a thing. I have a little I have a little process that I do, and and then I age it out about eight months, and it's uh it's a unique brick that that if once you once you have it, you'll buy it again.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Oh man, I'm gonna have to have my parents pick some of that up because they're gonna be coming down here in the next couple days. So yeah, they'll have to pick some of that up. But so what's your uh number one?

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Well, today for lunch I had a Havardi, you know. So today for lunch I had a Havardi and Sharp Cheddar. You know, my uncle made uh cheddar daisies, which is around cheddar years ago, you know, and I got as a little kid, you know, we'd always go back in the cellar and taste these aged cheddar. So I've always had kind of a uh taste for aged cheddar because I've always had it my whole life. My dad made Swiss cheese uh, you know, when I was a kid, so we always graded the Swiss because Wisconsin's the only state that grades cheese. So, you know, I always hung out with him and the cheese grater when they graded cheese. So we make a golden Swiss. We just started making that. Matt, the other master cheese maker here, you know, it was kind of his quest to make a Swiss. So we've got a pretty good Swiss that is unique. So I would say I really like that cheese. Um, I like Havardi. You know, I like all the cheeses we make, you know, the Stellar Swiss. Uh, you know, we make a beer cheddar that's pretty good. I mean, it's probably the only beer-tasting cheese that you can taste beer in. But then I go back to blue cheese, you know, a full cream blue cheese is just hard to beat. With a beer. With a beer, you know. Gotta beer.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Well, of course you have to have a beer with it.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Uh yeah, well, beer goes good with almost any cheese. You know, everybody worries about drinking wine with cheese, but I'm kind of a beer guy. I've never really found a cheese you couldn't drink beer with.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Well, you're speaking my language. I like that. Um so I was gonna say my number two, and I think it's uh actually underrated cheese, and you do it amazing. It's the Munster. I just love Munster cheese. Uh, it's great meltable, it's great in cheese.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Yeah, Munster is kind of crazy. You know, I have a lot of customers, and everybody likes young Munster. And I I mean, it's a lot of people like young Munster. Some people like it right out of the salt brine. You know, you uh you might as well eat cheese curds then, in my opinion. But I mean, I love I love Munster, but my Munster would have to have a little age on it. Uh, I think that's the premier Munster.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Well, that's fair enough. I think uh you know more about cheese than I do, but uh I I want to go counter back to the blue cheese because I think that's a cheese that people are very kind of afraid of. If that's fair enough.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I've got a lot of friends that won't eat blue cheese. I just cut up a gorgonzola today that was a year old, and I had people leave the room because they couldn't stand the smell. And you can you can you can almost spread it on a cracker, but it's really I mean, it's if you like a blue cheese, it's just creamy. And I mean, it's just a cheese that I've always liked. I've always liked blue cheese. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_00 27:13

It's I don't know what it is, if it's just like people are like, oh, there's mold on it. I should not be eating this, or you know. Uh it's really funky smelling, but I I love it, I really do. And I also want to talk a little bit about Gouda. I don't know if you've done anything with Gouda, I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

Yeah, we make, well, I I just got out of the world contest, so everybody calls it gouda. So it's well, a tomato tomato, you know, gouda, gota. Um gouda or gouda is uh really gaining popularity. I mean, there's a lot of people. I mean, we make we make gouda um here at the plant, and we sell a lot of it. I mean, it's a popular cheese. You know, the Netherlands uh they won the world championship with their gouda. Not not saying, I mean, they make good cheese, but yeah, their cheese won the contest.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

Well, it's it's so funny you say that. So I was interviewing uh uh Marike Penterman from Marike Gouda.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 28:26

Oh god, just an amazing gal. She sent us like I'm not kidding, like eight blocks of her Gouda. Oh my god, it's so good.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Yeah, I mean, she she makes a really good product. I mean, and she, you know, promotes Wisconsin, and she's a premier. I mean, they run a premier facility, you know. Um it's a true Wisconsin cheese plant.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Oh, I just love to hear that respect. And then my fourth is really simple. It's just mozzarella. It's kind of just cheese at its base, I guess, if you'd say.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

I just like a good mozzarella, you know, put it on pizza. I can just eat the whole ball by itself, too.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Yeah, fresh matz is an animal of its own, you know, and it's getting quite a following, especially when it comes to tomato season and and you know, early summer uh mozzarellas, you know, the fresh moths is is the crepe. Um and that that's growing, you know. That market seems to be growing. But yeah, to get a good matz on a pizza, uh, you can't beat it. But you know, the trend really is brick cheese on pizza.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

That is kind of well that's the uh um I didn't know that. So we were talking about Luke Zom.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

Detroit.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Yeah, Detroit, yeah. The Detroit pizza is brick cheese through and through, and that's a delicious pizza.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

And that's that's kind of the trend. I mean, our brick sales have grown, and I really attribute that probably to pizza, you know, the little pizza is.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Oh, that's great. Well, I just I just love talking that Mount Rushmore cheese segment. It's so fun to hear kind of what you like and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

I mean, everybody, you know, same way with cheese curds, is what's better, a raw curd or a fried curd, you know. That that's just you know, I get asked that stuff all the time. Oh cheeses, you know, I I like almost all cheeses. There are very few. You know, some of the some of the other breeds, you know, sheep cheese, goat cheese, some of them soft cheeses, I can't say they're my favorites, but some of the harder cheeses, like a hard goat cheese, uh they're really picking up the ball. Some of that stuff's pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Well, I and I've really actually been getting into the bread cheese as well.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Yeah, we just started making that USO. Uh I was in the first class where Jim Path brought that cheese over to the to this country, Ustalipe. Um so yeah, I was in the first class where they they made that. So we never had an opportunity or room to do it. And I was at an auction where some ovens came up for sale, so I bought them, and now we're making our own usto, you know, we sell it in the store.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

Man, just throw that in the microwave for like 10 seconds. Oh, it's so good.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Yep, a little maple syrup, or yeah, I mean, you can you can do it with anything, and it's it's really good.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

Oh, I love that. So, yeah, that was a ton of fun. So, I I I really want to ask you obviously you're doing everything the right way, but where do you see Decatur dairy in maybe the next five to ten years?

SPEAKER_02 32:13

Oh man, I you know it it, you know, cheese is it's a desirable product that people seem to be chasing right now. I mean, cheese sales are pretty good. You know, we just started making our own string cheese. I I've looked at some of the string cheese out in the market, and I'm like, I think I can do this, and I maybe maybe I can make a product that's unique. So I worked with the UW and we started making our own string cheese, which is an offshoot of Mott's, but we're making a Mexican, like a Oaxaca string, um and it's really popular. We we keep we just got a little tiny machine, so we're we're looking at investing in that product and that program. So we can only make about three or four hundred pounds at a time, and we sell it. I mean, it sells right away. So it's I think we're gonna have some growth there. And then with our our Swiss product that we're making, I have people inquiring about samples. So we're always we're always doing something different, you know. We make all our cheeses here for a store. We make our own Kobe, Kojak, Monterey Jack, Fontina. You know, we probably make 40 different cheeses here at the plant. And some of it's non-traditional, you know, um, but we make it and people like it. And they come here because our flavors a little different, our process is a little different, and it it's uh it's attractive, it's an attractive, you know, our cheeses are attractive to the public.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Absolutely. So I will definitely be telling my mom and dad to buy some of that string cheese because the string cheese you get at the store kind of tastes like crap.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

Yeah, you know, there are there are good there are good guys out there making string cheese, but some of it is pretty commercial. It's it's changed over the years compared to the string cheese I had when it first came on the market, you know.

SPEAKER_00 34:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

I'm trying to go back and create that product. That's what I'm trying to do. That's what I do with all my products. You know, I'm trying to create something that sets us a little bit apart and keeps people coming back to our product.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

Couldn't agree more. Um, yeah, so before we wrap up, I really just want to give you the floor to uh tell my audience where they can buy your cheese, whether it's online, uh uh through a distributor, through a you know, retail store, uh grocery store. But like for someone from me from Omaha, how do we get your work cheese? Because people need to eat your cheese.

SPEAKER_02 35:19

Yeah, I mean, a lot our online sales have grown a lot. I mean, it's it's been really interesting, the growth that we've seen with our online sales. Um, we do a lot of private labels, so a lot of people don't know we're making that product. Uh you know, we sell it here at our store. Uh, there are there are distributors now distributing our product, and I know it's showing up in places, but I can't tell you exactly where they're distributing it. You know, so right now, if you're asking me, it's it's here at Decatur or it's online. Um I I really don't, I mean, there's farmer markets like uh Kenosha, Janesville, I think there's two or three other farmers' markets. There's actually a farmer market down in Florida, the guy orders cheese every two weeks, and and he he's been doing it all winter, and it's been going over really well. Um I don't know how he's doing with it, but I know he's he's selling cheese, and people do contact me that he's doing a good job. So that's kind of where our products at right now, you know, as far as our own label product.

SPEAKER_00 36:38

Well, that's interesting. I didn't know you're doing anything on the uh um why am I blanking? I'm gonna have to edit this out because I'm an idiot. Uh not off label, what's it called? What did you say?

SPEAKER_02 36:55

On the farmers markets? Oh, private label?

SPEAKER_00 36:58

Oh, private label, sorry. Yeah, I didn't know you were.

SPEAKER_02 37:04

For people, they they they seek us out, and I can't really tell you who we do it for because I'm sworn to secrecy. You know, everybody wants to keep that a secret.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

That's fine. I just no, that's just oh that's so cool. But um I can't thank you enough for your time today. I know before we sign off, I love to talk about kind of what your day looks like because I don't think people realize kind of the time and effort you put into your craft. So just can you can you talk about just like a normal day? And I know there's not a normal day, but just a day at Decatur.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

Yeah, in the cheese business, there's never a normal day. You never know. I mean, I I do a lot of different things. I do a little maintenance, I do some cheese making. You know, I you just never know where you're gonna find me. A typical day is I get here about 4, 4:30, do cheese curds right away, right out of the gate. Uh every morning, we make fresh curd for the store, for customers. You know, that business is constantly growing a little bit. And then we do milk intake, you know, the trucks come in and start coming in about 6.30. So we usually gotta go down and make sure everything's set up for the trucks to come in and deliver milk because it starts rolling early in the morning already. And then watching the vats and making the cheese and and checking the quality. I mean, we're doing that all day long. Packaging, you know, I I got my hands on a little bit of everything, and now whey is becoming more important, so we're cooling our way and doing some things with whey to get more value out of it. So it just stays busy, you know, and then answering the phone and and doing the part I really, you know, the paperwork part. Uh I'm not a big fan of that, but you gotta do it. You gotta do it.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Yeah, you do. Can I interrupt you quick? I wanted to talk about the whey, actually, because I know I've seen some people doing some really interesting stuff with the whey. I think historically they sell them to is it pig farmers? Did the pigs eat the whey?

SPEAKER_02 39:32

Historically, that that's a thing of the past. I mean, that's where 90% of the whey used to go is back to the hogs. You know, we were just talking about how you always mix feed, filled the tank with whey, and then you fed, I mean, it was like I don't know, it's like fondue to the pigs. I mean, they couldn't get enough of it whey, whey, and grain, you know. But now there's so much value with the protein, you know, and the world seems to be short on protein. So protein is um gonna hold a good value, and people want more protein. I mean, look at Starbucks and everybody. They got protein coffee, protein candy bars. I mean, there's protein in everything. So I don't really have to buy it because I can just take a cup away, I guess, drink it, and I should be good.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

Oh, that's funny. I was just I just mentioned that because I saw uh one of the uh dairies in Wisconsin uses the way to make like vodka.

SPEAKER_02 40:39

Yeah, well, they're taking the protein out of it, they're they're taking the lactose out of it, and then they have a uh uh substance left called permeate, and they're making vodka out of permeate, which is value added. I I don't know how that's I'm sure that's working out really well, but I heard the vodka's pretty good, and I I know those people, and they're not gonna make a bad product.

SPEAKER_00 41:07

Oh that's so cool. I just I just like it.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

That's up in Knowlton, Wisconsin is where they're making uh the vodka out of out of way.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

So I just like it because I just don't like any uh you know byproduct to go to waste, I think. It's just such a what you guys are doing, it's such a noble profession, you know, sourcing your your dairy and everything like that.

SPEAKER_02 41:37

So yeah, for you know, for all the years whey was a a byproduct, and now I wouldn't be surprised down the road if whey has as much value as cheese because the world's just changing and and with everybody's nutrition and diets and everything else, it's only probably gonna keep that value there in that product.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

Well, I love that. I absolutely love that. So before we sign off, I just wanted to get your thoughts on maybe a young person wanting to maybe do what you do if there was any advice you would give to them. It's kind of an open-ended question, but I I I just want to keep spreading the word of cheese to everyone, whether it's you, a master cheesemaker, or a 15-year-old, being like, I want to make cheese.

SPEAKER_02 42:46

Well, the doors are wide open in this industry. I mean, we're short of knowledgeable people, you know. There's a lot of guys my age or a little younger that are looking to get out, you know, and uh they're gonna be hard to replace because uh the industry now is so segregated and so large. You bring an employee into a cheese plant, and there's virtually in some plants, no way they're gonna learn everything about everything. They're not gonna learn the intake, they're not gonna learn grading, you know, they're gonna learn specific areas either in manufacturing or packaging, and they're not gonna have the tools. And that's what the problem with the master cheesemaker program is some of these younger people aren't getting the experience throughout the whole plant that a master cheesemaker is required to know. I mean, you need to know everything from milk intake to cheese grating to cheese aging to uh sanitation. You need to cover all those bases and you need to have. Have vast knowledge of that. So, I mean, the door is wide open for a young person that wants to learn, but they also have to be in an environment that will let them learn. And I've been fortunate enough to train, you know, three individuals. Um, they're good cheesemakers. Uh, Matt went from cheesemaker to being a master cheesemaker, and that was his personal passion, which I'm very proud of. You know, he took it on and did it. Um, so yeah, the doors are wide open in this industry for young people if they want to learn. But it's a lot of work, you know, it's a lot of work.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

Yeah, that and that's what I think we'll go back to it. That's what Wisconsin means, is it's work, but it's worth it.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Um yeah, the pride, and uh, you know, and and there's a core of cheesemakers coming up that Wisconsin has to be proud of because they do carry the passion.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

Yeah, absolutely. And Steve, I seriously, I can't thank you enough for taking time again out of your day to talk to me. Um, I had a blast. I learned probably more about cheese than I maybe even wanted to know. But um uh, but no, but so keep an eye out for my parents, Dave and Wendy. If they if they show up at Decatur, uh guard the inventory. They've been known to they've been known to do some damage.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

Well, hey, that's great. You know, I there's nothing better than having a customer come in and and say, you know, please don't quit doing what you're doing. You know, they that's uh very appreciative and you know it just makes makes makes your day, you know, when someone says thank you for what you do and don't quit what you're doing. And I'm not you know, I still I still got some things I gotta do, you know. I still have things out there that I think need to be done. So there's still a little bit of passion there.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

I know, I see that. And like I said, I can't wait for my parents to head there and grab a huge chunk of cheese from you and hopefully pay for it. Hopefully they pay for it.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

But well, I hope so.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

You know, it it means so much that you took time out of your day, and I I I just can't wait to get this all edited and um published as part of my series. If you don't mind, I'm just gonna stop the recording now and we can just talk offline for a couple of minutes if that's okay. Sure.