Great Lakes Cheese Company, Inc. was started in 1958 by Hans Epprecht, who sold bulk cheeses. The Adams plant was purchased from Dairylea in 1984, and is one of seven facilities Great Lakes currently owns. In 2009, the plant went through an 80 million dollar state-of-the-art expansion that more than doubled the plant’s original production capacity. Now the facility will produce 87 million pounds of cheese annually. Today, Great Lakes Cheese is one of the country’s leading cheese manufacturing, packaging, and distribution companies. The cheese making process begins when milk is brought to the plant from dairy farms mainly within a 70 mile radius. Great Lakes Cheese receives 2.5 million pounds of farm fresh milk daily. Once the milk is pasteurized, starter and rennet (which coagulates the milk) are added. Rotating knives help to separate the curds (solids) and whey (liquid). The whey products are dried and later sold as powdered Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) and Permeate. The remaining curd will form a mat of cheese. The cheese mat will remain in the machine for a set amount of time. This is referred to as “cheddaring”. When the cheddaring process is complete the cheese mat is milled into curds and then salted. Next, the cheese curds are formed into blocks by compression and vacuum. The cheese plant is capable of producing either 43 or 695 pound blocks. Once the cheese is packaged, it is moved into cold storage for aging and flavor development. The warehouse has the capacity of 25 days production, or 6.3 million pounds. Great Lakes Cheese demonstrates its “passion for excellence” through its award winning New York State Cheddar Cheeses. Be sure to look for other stops on the tour that sell Great Lake’s cheese. The plant is not open for tours, so we appreciate you viewing this stop from the road.
