A Door County institution, Renard's is expanding under third generation cheesemaker Chris Renard
From his earliest memories as a 4-year-old washing milk cans, Chris Renard has been hands-on in the family business.
When Renard’s grandfather Howard started making cheese at Rosewood Dairy in 1961, it was just a two-vat factory. Cheddar and curds became their calling card, and the foundation of Renard’s Artisan Cheese.
Renard is a third generation cheesemaker who earned the designation of master cheesemaker in cheddar, then mozzarella. Renard’s mozzarella string cheese recipe was the first one he called his own. It’s still in use today, and he has a following nationwide for his award-winning string cheese and mozzarella whips.
In 2010 he and his wife, Ann, bought the family business, which encompasses Renard’s Cheese, Rosewood Dairy and Cloverleaf Dairy. They’ve expanded the Sturgeon Bay store, adding a play area and offering a menu highlighting cheese in dishes at Melt Bistro. It’s become a stop for visitors traveling to and from Door County and a day-trip destination for cheese lovers. The award-winning fresh curds are among the store’s biggest sellers.
Renard’s mozzarella whips also won in the natural snack cheese class at the most recent U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, while the Traditional Hoop Cheddar Wedge was best in class at the 2022 World Championship Cheese Contest for traditional waxed cheddar mild to medium.
It’s a point of pride. When he takes his cheese to competition, the judges get the same cheeses you get in stores.
“We go to the warehouse and we’ll sample some of the cheese we have there. I do not make a special batch just for the contest,” Renard said. “It is our everyday cheese.”
Renard’s is expanding operations with a new 50,000-square-foot cheese plant expected to be up and running by 2025. Renard talked recently about cheesemaking and how their growing facility will allow them to produce over 12 million pounds of cheese per year in Door County.
From Rosewood Dairy and Cloverleaf Dairy to Renard’s Artisan Cheese
In 2010 my wife Ann and I took over my parents' store. I’d been in the factory since 1995. In 2014 I was in partnership with my uncle and his wife; they decided to retire. We purchased the factory and their store. ...
A little over a year ago, our daughter came back to the business. Samantha is the fourth generation, and she takes care of the finance business right now. All four of our daughters have worked in the business in some way over the years. Our three youngest are still working for us but going to school. They will decide what they want to do.
Growing a business, bite by bite
When my grandfather started, it was a two-vat factory when he bought this in 1961, producing approximately 2,500 pounds of cheese a day. Now we're averaging about 9,000 to 10,000 pounds per day. ... It is based on the staff we have and the equipment. That is one of the reasons we are moving into the new plant. ...
Our current facility is over 100 years old. It has been added on over the years, and we are very limited on what we can add on any more. Right now if you combine everything we have, we have less than 20,000 square feet. The new facility will take us from over 3 million pounds a cheese per year ... to allow us to produce over 12 million per year. That’s all hands-on, small vat, not push button. ... Cheese is a living, breathing thing. No two pieces of cheddar are the same.
Curds have grown in popularity
My dad was the first person who taught me, and I learned cheddar. That was primarily what we made back then, cheddar and cheese curds. We didn’t pull nearly as many (curds) as we do now, though. They’ve become incredibly popular. We bread them (for fried curds) almost daily in the store, too.
People in Wisconsin have always been able to get fresh cheese curds. I think as people have traveled through the state, people come through and try them. Door County is a big tourist area. We sell curds all over now. They’re not as fresh as you’d get them at our store, but they’re as fresh as you’ll find them in a retail store in Chicago or Minneapolis. But you only get the fresh cheese curds in Wisconsin.
Why being a master cheesemaker matters
To me the master cheesemaker certification shows a lot of pride and passion in what we do, and it separates us from some of the wannabes out there.
When I started the program, I thought I knew a lot about cheese. Once I got into it, I found out how much more there was to know. The information you receive from other cheesemakers, the dairy farmers of Wisconsin, the Dairy Innovation Hub, the information and knowledge you get out of it is mind blowing. I still talk to the center for Dairy Innovation research staff at least once a month. Any question or crazy thing I’d like to try, I call and talk through it, get some opinions other than my own. It is a great help. Cheesemaking is a big industry, but a small community.
The first cheese recipe he made his own
For me, it was mozzarella string cheese. I came back to the business in ’95. Then in ’97 we purchased equipment to make mozzarella string cheese. No one had ever made mozzarella here, and that is what I took on. It took us about three weeks ... to figure out where wanted to be at with that. ... We use the same blends to this day.
New flavors will guac your world
Our newest one, we made a guacamole with farmers (cheese). That was inspired by my wife. We're having a Mexican meal at home and we melted some farmers cheese to go with it. We were talking new styles of cheese. She said, ‘Did you ever think of trying guacamole in the cheese?’ Nope, but we can try it. Our first time making it, the cheese turned blue! It was a chemical reaction, an aqua blue. It was a good flavor, but we had to do a little more trial and error. That came out this past year, and it is a pretty good seller.
This master cheesemaker eats a lot of cheese, and these are his favorites
I have cheese everyday. Usually cheddars for me. I still prefer aged cheddars. Right now it might be our New World Cheddar, an aged cheddar, but real creamy. Or our Cloverleaf Reserve, a gruyere and cheddar blend, a white cheddar with a nice sharp flavor. I’ve always liked our two year and five year cheddar, then our morel leek is a favorite, then the cracked black pepper. The latest is the farmer’s with guacamole, which has become a quick favorite. After all the trial and error to see it succeed is nice. Then we always like our string cheese and whips, those are really fun with the kids, they’re used in Bloody Marys, melted on pizza, a great snack.
Flavor trends and tastes evolve
I actually make more Morel and Leek Monterey Jack than pepper jack today. That has been a huge growth one for us, one of our biggest sellers.
A cheesemaker is nothing without good milk
This is a family business. My wife is the guiding force to all of us, she keeps the business growing. I keep the cheesemaking part, take care of that, but Ann does the rest. It is all with the support of our daughters and our staff. We couldn’t do it without the great employees. The last piece is the great farms. We need all of it.
The majority of our milk, all of our farms are within a 30-mile radius of our factory. The quality of the milk we get and knowing where it comes from is huge.
He’s taking Renard’s from Wisconsin to the world
When we got the first call for an exporter, it was kind of surprising. We were so used to selling mostly to people around us. Now we sell to almost all the states. ... We also are in the Middle East. Dubai and Saudi Arabia are our biggest international exports right now, and we’re now in the Cayman Islands, getting artisan cheese to new places.
Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email clewis@journalsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Renard's is expanding under third generation cheesemaker Chris Renard
