Stream of Consciousness #63 - Rebekah Henshel - Henning's Cheese

 This episode of Stream of Consciousness w/ Dan features a conversation with Rebekah Henshel from Henning’s Cheese, part of the family behind one of Wisconsin’s long‑standing cheese companies. We talk about what it’s like to grow up around a multi‑generation family business, what people don’t see behind the Henning’s name, and how much work goes into keeping a place like that running in today’s world. Rebekah shares stories about family, responsibility, and the day‑to‑day reality of life inside a legacy brand. It’s an easygoing, honest look at heritage, small‑town roots, and what it means to be connected to something that’s been around longer than you have. 

Home | Henning Cheese

https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZHWgVJf5Dadq6c1jHFrNC?si=5b008cd81a574dfe

http://www.youtube.com/@dannybackes1986

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Alright, everyone, we are live with Stream of Consciousness with Dan. And today I'm joined by someone who represents one of Wisconsin's most decorated enduring cheese families. Penning Cheese has been crafting award-winning wheels for 112 years. And they're still proving why. At the most recent World Championship Cheese Contest, they took home second place for their aged cheddar, second for their dragon's breath cheddar, and third for their mango fire cheddar. And in two categories, their cheeses swept the top three spots, whether made under their own name or for another company. So I'm joined today with Rebecca Henschel, who let's just say is a fourth generation owner and does some sales stuff on the side. Joshua Zachary. And she's just going to give us a a front row seat to both the craft and the business behind keeping a century-old Wisconsin tradition thriving. So Rebecca, it's an honor to have you here. How are you doing? And let's uh let's slice into this conversation.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

I'm good, Dan. Thank you for having me. This is this is awesome. I love talking cheese. I love talking about hunting cheese, our history, our awards, what makes us special. So I'm really excited to be here today.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Yeah, I I I couldn't agree more. Like like we talked offline. The only thing that could make it better is if I had a couple slices of henning cheese in front of me right now.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

But um next time. We'll get that taken care of. Um, but no, so I want to step outside the uh henning for a second and just kind of talk about what it was like growing up, because obviously cheese is in your blood. I mean, it literally is in your blood, but I'm curious about kind of the parts of your childhood that had nothing to do with cheese. Uh the things that shaped you before you even thought about stepping into the family business. So just talk about your your hobbies, your interests, and and things like that as a kid.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Yeah, uh growing up, growing up, um cheese, cheese was in my blood. You are correct. It still is in my blood. Um, but outside of that, you know, I loved young when I was younger, I was in sports and I loved music growing up. I loved honestly being involved with just a lot of different things. I was one of those kids that um, you know, was never home and just involved with with everything I could possibly get my hands on. And, you know, it kind of now that I look back, and now in my leadership role at Hennings, um, you know, a lot of those things formed who I who I am now. So that's really interesting. I always just always just had to be involved with different things, lots of different friend groups, um, you know, enjoyed meeting new people. So that I think just has formed the person who I am today. But, you know, from a very young age, cheese making and the Wisconsin dairy industry was in my blood, you know, whether we were out here at the cheese factory or whether we at were at home. Um, when you grow up in a family that has such depth in the Wisconsin cheese making industry, it's just part of who you are.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you just you just drive through Wisconsin and you just see silo after silo after silo. It's beautiful. It's it brings me back to to my childhood. I I lived there until I was about five years old and then moved to the five. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Where did you live, Dan?

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Yeah, so I was born in uh Chippewa Falls.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Oh, okay, sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Yeah, so I was born in Chippewa Falls, uh, moved around quite a bit. Uh we were in Oak Creek for a while, uh Baraboo for a while as well. Uh yeah, and then ended up in Kansas.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

You were all over.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Yeah, we were all over.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Great areas in the state.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

But yeah, all my you know, extended family is pretty much up there. My my uncle, my late uncle worked on a farm in Cazanovia.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

So so uh so yeah, so I I still consider myself a Wisconsinite, even though I'm what 33 now, good grief. And I only lived in Wisconsin for five years, but I still yeah, consider myself a Wisconsin knight through and through.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

That's awesome. I feel like if you are born here, that's probably common among most people.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

And I guess even just talking to you and hearing uh kind of your subtle Wisconsin accent just makes me smile because it just bring it just brings me back to home. And I don't mean that in a bad way at all, I promise. Uh oh, I love it. So uh so you talked about you, you know, you were into sports and music, but did you always know you would kind of settle down into the cheese making industry?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Like maybe deep.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Not that you were forced into it or oh no, you have to love it, you have to love it, and that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

And anyone who comes back to the family business, you know, it you have to give it your all. It's a lot of work, and you you do, you have to love it. Um, it's not something that you just kind of come back in and and do halfway, let me say. Um, it's something that you've got to put your whole heart and soul into it. And it's it's awesome and it's very fun and it's an awesome industry. Um, but I think deep down in my heart, maybe I always knew, but at the surface, I I didn't, I didn't know it, if that makes sense. Um, you know, when I was younger, I loved, like I said, I love people. Um, I always thought maybe I would be a teacher or something along those lines. But then as I grew up, I went to school for business. Um, so it was very, you know, kind of took that part of my education, went into business, and then did an emphasis on hospitality. Once again, love working with people. Um, and then when I was close to graduating, my dad, Kurt, was looking to give up his sales position. He'd kind of managed our Wisconsin cheese sales, and he was looking to give that position up and then come back in the office and do a lot of different things that needed to be done. So at that point in time, um I was graduating from college, um, didn't really have a direction in the career path I wanted to take. Um, I knew the hospitality industry was a lot of weekends and a lot of holidays, and I didn't necessarily want to do that. Um, so I was like, you know what? I think I think coming back to the family business would be would be a good idea. And I've been here ever since. So I graduated in 2009. Um, so I've been back here for 17 years almost. It's wild. Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

And where did where did you go to school?

SPEAKER_01 7:08

I went to school at UW Stout up in Menominee. Oh yeah, right in your neck of the woods.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, up there in Menominee.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Up up there, yeah. Um, but yeah, I loved, I loved it. It was four hours from home, so it was a good distance, you know, growing up, like spread my wings, fly away. Um, you know, we were close to Minneapolis. Um, I had a lot of friends up in that direction. And yeah, it was it was a great four years of my life. Um, but then like I said, when I was graduating and really trying to figure out what do I want to do for the rest of my life, or at least for the foreseeable future, um, you know, that's when this opportunity came came about, and I've been here ever since.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Well, this the stars clearly aligned. Um, I I I really want to hear, I'm gonna make a really dorky reference, uh, the history of henning uh from the cow's mouth.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Um, so I really want you to just talk about because I mean 112 years, that's there's a lot there's wild. So if you just wanna uh we don't need necessarily each each year individually, but uh just just kind of a broad, you know, how kind of henning came about and just things like that. Because I obviously you're very passionate about it. So I just love it to hear from you.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Yeah. So um in about 1912, uh my great-grandfather Otto uh started working for a local cheese factory, and the owner of that cheese factory became very ill. And he asked my grandfather, my great grandfather, excuse me, if he would want to take over the cheese factory. Well, at that point in time, um, he traveled all the way to Madison, which by car right now is about two hours, a two-hour drive. So in 1912, he went from here in Kiel all the way down to Madison to get his cheese making license so that he could run the cheese factory while this gentleman was getting, you know, hopefully getting better. But in 1914, um, this gentleman who owned the cheese factory asked my grand, my great-grandfather if he just wanted to buy it from him. And so at that point in time, Otto took over the cheese factory in 1914. And at that point in time, it was called Lakeside Cheese because it was right next to a little lake called Wilkie Lake. It was right on the lake. Um and he operated that that cheese factory until he passed away in like the mid-1960s. And in the mid-1960s, he had five children, and the youngest was his only boy, and that was my grandfather. And the girls wanted nothing to do with the business. And so at that point in time, my grandfather was looking at it. He was working, you know, a couple different jobs because that's just, you know, that generation, that's that's how it works.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

It's just what you do.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

I know it is, it's what you do to to survive, right? They're they're some of just the greatest generation. I truly believe that. But um, so he was working a couple different jobs and then his his father died, and he had the opportunity to take it over. But at that point in time, uh, cheese factories across the state were closing left and right. It was a very tough time in the Wisconsin cheese making industry. Um, so he decided to jump in and he bought the business. And within a couple of years, the state came in with some different regulations and said, Everett, you know, if you want to continue to operate, you need to build a new cheese factory. And so he really felt strongly about continuing hunting cheese and he decided to jump in and build a brand new facility about a half a mile down the road. He bought some land, and that location where he built on is basically where we've been ever since. And then in the 1980s, three of his children came back to the business basically to expand markets and look at different opportunities. And that would have been Kay, Carrie, and Kurt. Um, and then in the early 2000s, I would say, is when us fourth generation um folks start started coming back and into the business. And so there's now four of us. Um, my cousin Mindy runs our office. My brother Joshua, as I said, is one of our cheesemakers. He runs our plants and then is also in the master cheesemaker program. And then I have a cousin Zachary, who's a cheesemaker, and he helps with a lot of our maintenance in the plants. And then I do a lot of the sales, marketing, and just a lot of other things that you do when you're a small family business. So that's kind of how we came about generationally and we've evolved a lot over the years. You know, we used to just make a couple different styles of cheese. Now we make a ton of different varieties. We, you know, we used to sell a lot of wheels, now we cut and wrap a lot because retailers have switched from wheel business to cut and wrap, you know, something easy because of because of labor shortages, right? So they want something they can just put on the shelf. Um, so our business has changed a lot over the years, as you can imagine. When you're in business that long, it looks very different. But, you know, we still have our roots. We still know like how hard it was and and how hard it was to get here. Um, so we still understand all of that and and we still make a high quality cheese just like my great-grandfather did.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Cheese on staff. Oh, I absolutely love that because as we've discussed, I've I've talked to a lot of uh dairies across the the state of Wisconsin and cheese makers. And it's yeah, yeah, you're innovative, but you're still traditional, I guess, if that makes sense, which I think is what makes Wisconsin cheese so special. Um like you like you're doing your mango fire cheddar, like I mean, your great great grandfather would never think of making a mango fire cheddar, probably. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Correct. Yeah, that our our unique flavors really came about in like the 1990s, where Carrie, um Carrie basically was looking at the market and how can we create our own niche? And so he really started, you know, really started experimenting with different flavors and cheeses.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Oh, that's so cool. And I can't wait to get to the grocery store because you have a lot of your cheeses at our grocery store here in Nebraska. So I love that. Um, but before we go any further, I want to just take a quick aside because there's a photo on your website. It's just your plant surrounded by fields and open country. Uh and I've just been looking at it and it just pulls me just straight back home. Like that is true, Wisconsin, the land, the space, uh, the quiet, the hardworking people, and just the way a place can feel both hardworking and peaceful at the same time. So if you just want to talk about kind of the the the land of Wisconsin and what it means to you, because it means a lot to me.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Yeah. Um, I think when you look at Wisconsin in general, it's just such a such a down-to-earth culture, if I want to say it that way. Um, you know, people have values here, they care about each other. It's very Midwestern-y feel. Um, and we are we are America's dairyland, right? We're the perfect topography for Wisconsin cheesemaking. Um, we are located on the eastern side of the state of Wisconsin. So some of the cheesemakers you've been talking to maybe aren't located on this side of the state. We're we're right in between Milwaukee and Green Bay. Okay, so that's kind of where our plant is located, is is close to Lake Michigan. Um, and the that land where we are actually on is part of the Niagara Escarpment. So that is the the land that goes all the way from Wisconsin through Door County, if you're familiar with Wisconsin. Door County is the finger that sticks into the thumb. Yes. And then it goes all the way up into Niagara Falls. And so the land composition is different than if your plant or your cheese factory is located on the other side of the state. So the cows are grazing on the grasses over here. It's going to give you different milk and it's going to give you just slightly different cheese than if I was making cheese down in, let's just say, the southwestern part of the state of Wisconsin. So it's really unique topography because even around the entire state, you have different topography and it's going to produce different milk, which will give you different cheese.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Oh, that's so neat here because uh just people going to the grocery store and buying a block of cheese, there's like, oh, it's just milk and blah blah blah, whatever. But that's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

So you would never know that.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

You describe that. Yeah, that's so cool how you describe that. So yeah, so you're right in between Lake Winnebago and Lake Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Correct. Yes. So we're right in that, right in that little area there.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Oh, so you're up there. Oh, yeah, okay. I've got my map up. Oh, so you're kind of like uh Sheboygan Manitowak area. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Got it. Cool. Okay. So no, I I love that you mentioned that because I just wanted to talk about the milk itself because you know, people think, you know, it's just cheese, you know, it's just you just put milk in, but like I know, I think I read you source your milk within 30 a 30 mile radius of your plant. Is that is that accurate?

SPEAKER_01 16:45

That is that is accurate, yes. And um, a lot of our milk comes from small local family dairy farmers. So, and a lot of those dairy farmers are multi-generational farms. Um, it's hard to be a dairy farmer in this day and age. And we just really want to support those those family operations that have been going just just like we have been going. Um, and so yeah, it they're all located within about a 30 mile radius of our plant. And so that's really convenient when it comes to milk supply. We can we can get that milk and we can get it back here and and make it into cheese.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Yeah, and could you talk about a little bit about the decision to do that? Because I've heard it from a lot of other uh dairies, uh, and I really respect it because anyone can sell out and get milk from you know, XYZ Corporation. But why do you choose to do that and not cut corners and just get that uh best milk that you can probably get your hands on? And I'm sure it's definitely more expensive than, you know, like I said, selling out and you know, paying a large corporation.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

We always say uh great great milk produces great cheese, or great cheese comes from great milk, right? You need a really great base product in order to produce great cheese. And maybe you've heard this from some of the other producers that you've been talking to. Um, but it's our family farmers really care about their cows, they care about their animals. We're looking for those components that are inside the milk that make really great cheese. And we're watching those components, you know, we want to make sure that everything that's coming in uh the back door is is uh going to make a good quality piece of cheese because that's what we pride ourselves on here at Hennings. Um, there's a lot of big manufacturers and they have their place in the market too, but um, we focus on quality and so we want a great tasting piece of cheese every time. And we love that we can source our milk from you know these local farmers and that we're kind of able to support them and they're able to support us.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Yeah, I I absolutely love that because that's what to me, it kind of brings me to my my next question. Uh to me, that's what being Wisconsin is about. It's you know, doing it the right way, supporting you know, local community, the hardworking people. And yeah, so I absolutely love that you're doing that. Um and again, it at the end of the day, you're producing a higher quality product, so it's kind of a win-win.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So it goes, you have to have grape milk. Like I said, you have to go have great. It's no different than if you were baking something and you had bad flour or you had a bad ingredient that you added into, let's just say, a cake. No matter what you do to try to change that, you you can't, right? You need good ingredients no matter what you're doing. And so the same goes for cheese making. Um, and then also it's how you make the cheese, right? It's it's the slow procedures, it's it's the time-honored traditions, you know, those are the things that really set you apart. It's the culture recipes that your cheesemakers use, those are all the things that makes you stand out and and produces a higher quality piece of cheese.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Absolutely. So um, I love asking this question because it makes myself look kind of self-deprecating and an idiot. But um can you just describe the cheese making process to me? I I just love to hear it because it's again, you we take advantage of it so much, you know, just go to the store, buy the block of cheese. But there's so much that goes into it, the care, the craft, the aging, the you know, the cultures, the the rennet, everything. Uh so yeah, so if you could describe that for us, I would I would absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Yeah. So um basically starting from the milk, we have a company that goes around and picks up all of our milk at our local dairy farmers every day. We only produce cheese Monday through Friday, but they're also picking up milk Monday through Sunday because don't stop milking, right? Um, you know, that they don't just shut off when you have a holiday or a weekend. Um so they go around and they pick up milk from all of our local family dairy farmers and then they bring it back here. And then we test that milk to make sure that it's free of antibiotics and other things before we start to make anything with it. Um then at that point, when the when the tests come back good, then we we put it into our vats, and that's where you add, you know, if you're making certain kinds of cheeses, you add certain cultures, you add certain rennet. Um, if you're making a yellow cheese versus a white cheese, that might be when you add your coloring. We use annato, which is a seed, right? It's a natural color. Um, but every cheesemaker has their own process and their own ingredients. But we we choose annato. And so at that point, it's all added to the milk. And then basically the milk is cut with very sharp. And um it coagulates. So meaning it thickens. Okay. And then it slowly turns into curd and whey. You know, little Miss Muffet sat on her Tuffet eating her curds and whey. That's that's what it turns into. And then for us, it's taken from those cheese vats and it's pumped over to finishing tables. Okay. So in the finishing table, that's where, you know, for Colby, we we make a stirred curd Colby where it's just stirred. Um, our cheddar is hand matted. So it's hand matted the traditional way. So that's where everything's pumped over. And depending on what we're making, it changes the process in those tables. Okay. And then from there, all of that cheese then is salted, you know, whether it's a Colby or a, you know, a cheddar or a farmer's or a mozzarella, it's it's salted. And then it's taken out of those tables and then it's put into the forms that you're making. So if you're making, you know, a 22-pound wheel, it would be put into a wheel form. If you're making 40-pound block, it would be pressed into a 40-pound block form. Um, if we're making flavored cheeses, if we're infusing that cheese with flavor, then it would be put on after the salting, like after the cheese curd is salted, and it would be put on that cheese curd and stirred together and then pressed into blocks. Um, but when you break down the cheese making process to the most simplest form, that's basically what it is.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Oh, that's so neat. I love I love hearing that. I love watching it.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Um we have a great video on our website if you ever get a chance to go watch it. Um, absolutely. Of the cheese making process. And it's just a really fabulous video that teaches teaches you and and even just the basic consumer about how to make cheese.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Oh, I will definitely post that uh in the episode description. So what I really wanted to ask is it's really kind of a dumb question, but why never a dumb question? Oh, there's no dumb question.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

There is no dumb question.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Uh it's like you think about cheddar, and obviously you talk about the annato. Why does that matter? I guess is does it add flavor or nope?

SPEAKER_01 24:26

I don't know. It's a preference, you know. Certain parts of the country want white cheese, certain parts of the country prefer yellow. It's it's customer preference. It really doesn't change the flavor. It doesn't. Um, some customers will tell you, now there may be, if you're a cheese grater or you're a master cheese maker, you may be able to pick up very slight differences, but the general consumer cannot taste the difference between white and yellow cheddar, especially, well, if it comes from the same plant, they wouldn't be able to pick up flavor differences unless you're talking about different ages of cheese. You know, if it's aged for 30 days or 60 days or 90 days, that's when you can pick up, you know, different flavors, but it's not due to the color of the cheese, it's due to, you know, the aging process in the cultures.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

Oh, that's so it's just so interesting because you're like, um, I prefer white cheddar myself, but like you're picturing like you get a burger from anywhere in the correct country, and it's like it's always yellow, it's always yellow, it's always yellow. So no, I just thought that was interesting because I never I never really thought about that until I started doing this.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

It's customer preference, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Well, I don't know if you're ready, but I'm ready to have even more fun. We're gonna do Mount Rushmorph cheese.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

I love that you do this. This is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

Um, it's my favorites, it's my favorite segment. I I I switch my Mount Rush like every time I talk to someone.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

Um uh my number one right now is just Colby. Okay. It's purely Wisconsin, it's approachable, uh, it's a little buttery, you know. You can have it on a burger, uh, cold cuts, you can even mix it in with some mac and cheese.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Uh yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

I mean, you can just do anything with Colby. I just yeah, so that's right now that's my number one.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

If you like, if you like a good Colby, we make a traditional bandage style Colby. Okay. And that's you basically put it in a wheel form and it's bandaged and then it's waxed, and then it's pressed, or it's pressed and then it's waxed, but it is so delicious, and it's the way like the traditional Colby longhorn was made years ago.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

And it's just what do you mean by bandaged?

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Um, you put like a cloth on it, and that's how traditionally you used to make cheese, right? The cheesemakers would put a cloth and then they would wax the cheese, and that would preserve the cheese. So our traditional bandaged Colby, um, that cheese has taken home many, many awards over the years, almost every time we enter it. Um, but it's a really cool piece of cheese because you're not vacuum sealing it, meaning you're not sucking all the holes out of it. So you're still allowing those holes to be there. And it's just an awesome, awesome, buttery Colby. So if you want to try something different, give it a shot.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

Oh, I will for sure. So, all right, you're up and don't say Colby.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Oh, this is hard. I mean, I think number one would be for me, cheddar. Um, you know, we make so many great cheddars, probably something between like a six and nine-month cheddar that we have here, just because it's got such great flavor, and you can use it on anything.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah, it's it's a super adaptable cheese, and I love what you're doing with the the flavors of it as well. Like you said, with the uh the mango fire. I mean, I can't even imagine how good that would taste on a taco. That would be so good. Um so I'm gonna go a little I I call it my most underrated cheese in the world, but I go Munster.

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

I just I just love Munster again. It's it's melty, it's yes, it's it's it's very approachable, it's not anything crazy, and I just don't think it gets enough respect. So I've got Monster on my Mount Rushmore.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

I love that. I would say I would say my next one would be Colby. I know you had that for your number one, but I think that would probably be up there. Like I said, especially because our traditional bandaged wax Colby is just so awesome. It's such a great piece of cheese. And like you said, you can use it on anything.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

Well, I will allow it, even though you copied me. Um well, I'm gonna go even more basic. I'm gonna go the most basic cheese I can think of. It's it's mozzarella, it's just cheese in its purest form. It's uh, I mean, in a caprici salad on pizza, uh make a baked ziti, lasagna. And then I have to ask, I've seen your mozzarella whips.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

It's so good, Dan. They're so good.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

I needed to say that because thank you.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Thank you for calling those out. Those are really unique, and there's not many manufacturers that make those.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Oh, I've never I've never seen them before.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Yeah. So we're just starting to grow our sales with our mazzoips across the country. It's basically like an alternative to string cheese, but they're thinner and they're longer. So they're super fun, they're salty, they're delicious. My daughter takes them almost daily in her lunch. I have to tell you that. She just loves them. So she'll take some fruit, she'll take some nuts, she'll take her maza whips, a little salami. It's like her perfect little charcuterie.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

I was gonna say it's just a little charcuterie board.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Her second grade charcuterie board is what that looks like. Um, but the mazzo whips are awesome. They really are. Um, and we're seeing them grow in popularity. Like I said, they're just a great snack item. And it's an alternative to string cheese. You know, we all love string cheese, but it's a great alternative to that.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

And what what kind of inspired it? Because, like I said, I I'd never seen anything like that before.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

I think, you know, and I'll have to check her, I'll have to, I'll have to ask my dad, but I think my grandfather was looking to expand. He, I think maybe he was making string cheese at the time, and he was looking to do something different. And I don't know if there was another cheese manufacturer in the area doing it, or we were asked to do it for someone, but we started doing that locally here. Um, and like I said, there's only a couple of us that make that cheese. So it's very unique. And but it like you, you're very intrigued by it. And we're seeing that coast to coast as well, you know. Um, especially, you know, we've we've started to grow some distribution up in the northwest area, and they're doing pretty well up there. So just starting to like plant it in certain parts of the country, you know, and kind of see how it see how it does.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Yeah, I I literally the second we sign off and I go to the grocery store, I will be going to buy some of those whips because they're at our grocery store. I love that. I um so I think it's you. Are you on three? I think you're third.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Um, yes. So I'm gonna go a little rogue here. Oh, and I don't know what I'm gonna do. You know what? Can I throw out this is not a normal cheese category, okay? But I'm gonna I'm gonna say our our flavored cheeses. I'm gonna say our flavored, our flavored cheddars. Like some of the innovation that we're doing here is just really fun and a bit wild. I can't talk about everything we've got sitting in our cooler right now because it's still in the RD process. But, you know, just really looking at like, okay, what works? How can you infuse cheese? Customers are looking for variety, right? And you know, some of our some of our latest flavors are Aleppo cheddar, basic, um, that we're um importing Aleppo peppers from Syria. And that's just really, yeah, it's a cool pepper because it's not hot, but it's got a lot of pepper flavor. And so we're kind of seeing that trend on the coast a little bit, but it's Aleppo. And then uh our other couple new ones that we have, we have our summer truffle, which truffle and cheese always works really well, but I love, love that cheese. You can use it on a lot of different things. It's just really rich and decadent. It's so delicious. Um, we also have a black garlic, peppercorn, which is really good. That's a new one using black garlic that we source locally here from Wisconsin. And then we also infuse it with peppercorn and it just balances and really well, well rounds that cheese. So there's so many fun things you can do. And I guess when I look at cheese manufacturers, we do flavored cheeses the best. Um, Carrie has really figured out how to balance your cheese flavor with whatever you're infusing it with. And because you always want to be able to taste the base cheese. You're not supposed to cover up that really delicious base cheese. You want to taste it, but you want to enhance it with whatever you're adding to it. And retailers have really jumped on board with this too, um, with offering different like seasonal sets. You know, we do a strawberry and they'll bring that in for spring or summer, or our cranberry for the fall and winter. You know, they're having fun with these these different infused flavors as well. And so it just it just is really cool to kind of see that develop nationwide. But like I said, my that category isn't necessarily a cheese category, but I'm making it one today.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

That's okay. Okay, you know you know about cheese than I do, so I can't tell you what to do or not. Oh man, so I was going to go cheddar for number four, but I'm switching it up.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 34:23

I have been introduced to uh two cheeses, so I'm cheating as well. You cheated, so I'm going to cheat too. Um bread cheese.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Oh yeah, I love bread cheese.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

Yeah, uh like where's this been my whole life? Yeah. Uh oh, you just throw it in the microwave for like 10 seconds, and oh, it's just amazing. And then I actually also just kind of got introduced to Fontina. Oh, sure. Sure. And I've really been enjoying that as well. Um, but no, that bread cheese, I just would I just put it on a paper plate and put it in the microwave and oh my gosh. So uh so that's I really rushmore is kind of who knows how many heads there are now, but that doesn't matter. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

Right, exactly. Yeah, you know, and going off that bread cheese, we take our cheese curds. So Wisconsin is known for their cheese curds, right? And so we will take our cheese curds and we'll either fry them just in a pan just to heat them up and crisp them up, or or roast them over a fire, and you get almost the same concept as bread cheese, almost the same because you're crisping up that outside, and it's that's addicting. That's really, really good.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Oh, that does sound good.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

So, food for thought. If if you ever don't have bread cheese and you have access to cheese curds, try it.

SPEAKER_02 35:56

Oh, well, thank thankfully, my parents are coming down, so they live in broad broadhead, so they're gonna be bringing down some Decatur Dairy cheese curds. So I'll definitely try that. Perfect. Unfortunately, they're too far away from you to go up to Keel and and grab those, but uh you know, next time you're in the state, come on by and visit us.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

We have a retail store um and a museum, so you can just stop on in and you could even ask for me.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Oh, I absolutely will. Um yeah, so that was a fun segment. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's like just gold. I know you're like you just talk about cheese, you're drooling, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

Um, so we've talked about yeah, I love the different perspective. I love the different perspective on it, you know. I love I love like trying to figure out why do you like that and and what can you do with it?

SPEAKER_02 36:48

Oh, absolutely. So, you know, we've talked about your story, the family's legacy, the craft, what cheeses you're uh into right now, but um you're you're really carrying forward a fourth generation of Wisconsin creamery, but what's coming next when you think about the future? I know you've talked about a lot of your um flavored cheeses, you're really excited about, but uh just kind of what do you hope to build or grow and innovate in the years ahead at Henning?

SPEAKER_01 37:23

Yeah, I I think um yeah, I partly touched on this, like I said, with our innovative flavors, because I just think we're doing something truly special here and kind of cornering maybe that niche in the marketplace with some of what some of the flavors that we're doing. So I think that's going to be a strong piece of going forward on what we do, but just staying true to who we are too, as we grow, as we develop, as we look forward to the future, just remembering like what brought us here and then, you know, staying true to that and still producing a high quality piece of cheese. Because at the end of the day, that's what our customers have known to love. And, you know, we don't want to compromise that quality piece of cheese just because we're growing or changing or becoming different. Um, because you have to to evolve and stay up with the market. But I think just making sure we can continue to make a great piece of cheese and then also add the innovation piece as well will help us continue to grow and develop.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

Well, I love that. And um, before we sign off, I really wanted to touch on just Wisconsin cheese culture in general, because everyone I talk to, I feel like knows each other. Like I yeah. Oh, it's it's ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Yeah, we all do, we all know each other. We're one big happy family.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

Because you want to obviously make the best cheese, like as a as a person, you want to make the best cheese, you want to, you know, make money. But you know, what does that mean when you have kind of that support system within the industry?

SPEAKER_01 39:00

It's incredible, it's truly incredible. And I don't know if there's many industries out there like this. Um, we all work together, we all have our own niche, um, but we really support each other and help each other. You know, they have a question, we have a question, we can call each other, talk about things. It's it's really special. I don't know of many other industries like the Wisconsin cheese industry. We have great support down in Madison at the UW. Um, they have a great support team there that helps cheese manufacturers across the state, Wisconsin cheese or dairy farmers of Wisconsin. They also are a great marketing arm for Wisconsin cheese. And, you know, they really rally around all of us as well. But it it's a really cool, unique culture where we're all rooting for each other and we're all helping each other, you know, hopefully do the best that we can all do.

SPEAKER_02 39:55

Absolutely. I again I just love that so much because that's why I started this podcast was to what I like to say shrink the world and you know, just support each other, be you know, be kind, be helpful.

SPEAKER_01 40:12

Yes, and you have to. You have to.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

So yeah, well, this has been an amazing conversation, but I really want to give you the chance before uh we sign off to let my audience know where they can buy henning cheese, um, whether it's you know, retail or website or things like that, because yeah, I can't wait to get my hands on it.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

Um, thank you. Yeah, we we sell to a quite a few national grocery stores. So if you're if you're out and about, we actually have a list on our website and it's growing. Um, but we do sell to a lot of retailers nationwide, you know, including Hive, H E B, some Albertson's divisions, um, some Whole Foods stores, you know, things like that. And even some of your local specialty stores, you'll find Honey and Cheese in. Here in Wisconsin, you know, we sell to a lot of our local grocery stores, Sundix, Pigly Wiggly, Festival, Woodmans, just to name a few. Um, so yes, check your local retail store. You can also order online at our store here. We have we have a local store on site that you can visit, but then we have an online store as well. So you can you can purchase cheese and we ship all the all over the country.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

Oh, well, awesome. Well, you heard it from, like I said, the cow's mouth. Don't want to call you a cow, but I like to use that reference. It's kind of funny. Uh you heard it from Rebecca. You can get this cheese anywhere. Uh take advantage of it. Uh taste 112 years of family tradition. Uh I Rebecca, I really can't thank you enough for taking the time to, you know, share your story and your heart today. I know uh it's been a busy couple of weeks with the World Cheese Championship and everything. So uh it's just really been a a a joy hearing about your family and your craft. So I thank you so much. And I cannot wait to go to the grocery store in like five minutes and try those mozzarella whips.

SPEAKER_01 42:19

Oh thanks, Dan. Yeah, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 42:24

I appreciate it too. So thanks again, everyone, for listening to Stream of Consciousness with Dan. Uh, today's conversation was just a delicious treat, sincerely, and I hope it left you with a real hankering for some henning cheese. So until next time, take care of yourselves and take care of each other.