BC-USA purchases Edelweiss, closes Bresse Bleu plant
By Hilary Parker, Associate Editor, Cheese Market News
Bongrain Cheese USA (BC-USA Inc.), the North American specialty cheese subsidiary of Bongrain SA in France, has purchased Edelweiss Cheese Co., Marshfield, Wis. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.
"The purchase of Edelweiss is a very significant development for our company," says Jim Williams, president and CEO of BC-USA, headquartered in New Holland, Pa. "The capabilities and products of Edelweiss places us in the Cheddar cheese market for the first time and will open very exciting opportunities in this extremely important segment of the U.S. cheese market."
The news comes on the heels of a BC-USA announcement that it plans to discontinue all production and packaging activities at its Bresse Blue cheese plant in Watertown, Wis., by April 27.
The decision to discontinue operations at Bresse Bleu was based on several significant economic factors related to the condition of the facility, says Williams. In order to make the plant competitively efficient and effective, it would require both modernizing and enlarging its current production area. This is a major investment under normal circumstances, Williams says; however, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has informed BC-USA that it plans to expand the highway that passes the plant, making expansion impossible. In addition, due to Department of Natural Resources regulations, any significant expansion of the plant would require BC-USA to build a wastewater treatment facility.
BC-USA will continue to manufacture goat's milk cheeses in another Wisconsin facility, he stresses. The company also will continue to purchase goat's milk from its suppliers and plans to purchase more and more milk for BC-USA's "strong and growing" goat's milk cheese business.
Williams says BC-USA will provide support to the roughly 75 Bresse Bleu employees during their job transition period. CMN
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