MONROE — In one of many events to celebrate the strength of Wisconsin’s dairy industry during June is Dairy Month, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers visited Chalet Cheese Co-op on June 14. Later that day, he continued his tour by visiting Arena Cheese in Iowa County.

In Green County, Evers learned about the cheese factory’s cooperative with local dairy farmers, which began in 1885 and is still thriving. Evers and his staff also toured the facility, learning what goes in to make a variety of Chalet Cheese products — like Brick, Swiss, and Limburger. In fact, Chalet Cheese is the only producer of Limburger cheese in the entire United States.

“This is a great group of people that work hard and really contribute to the $45 billion industry that dairy is in the state of Wisconsin, so it’s great to be here,” said Evers, who had the opportunity to give taste tests to a slew of in-house products. “I got to try the Limburger — I haven’t had that for a while.”

The current cheese factory was built in 1948. The Chalet Cheese cooperative includes 11 local dairy farmers in Green County. That means the farmers are also very much invested in the operation, because together they own the land, the building and the equipment. On a monthly basis, Mike Hlubek, co-op general manager, gets to meet with the farmers to discuss projects and how the co-op is doing financially.

“We think part of the reason we make such great world championship cheese is because we are provided high-quality milk by our dairy farmers,” said Hlubek. 

In 2022, Chalet Cheese won the world championship for the Baby Swiss and the state championship for the Swiss. Jamie Fahrney is the Master Cheesemaker of the operation, with more than 40 years creating Baby Swiss, Brick and Limburger. Other cheesemakers include Rick Buss, Wally Hartwig and Michael Nelson.

While the recipe for the world famous Limburger hasn’t really changed since Chalet began making it in 1885, over the past few years, the cheese factory has introduced even more styles of cheese, like Pannaro (a Gouda and Parmesan blend), a smoked Gouda, and a pepper Havarti. 

“When our cheesemakers get the opportunity to make those kinds of cheeses, they win awards for them,” Hlubek said, adding that one of their new cheeses most recently finished third in the world despite just recently being added to the roster. 

Chalet and Deppler’s cheeses can be purchased at either the factory cheese store (N4858 County N, Monroe), or at their new retail store at 554 1st Street in New Glarus, which is open seven days a week.