Cheese Industry Expansion Signals Long-Term Confidence

HART Insight Summary

Major cheese manufacturers across the United States continue to invest in new capacity, automation, and processing infrastructure as demand for cheese and dairy proteins remains strong. Recent expansion projects by Leprino Foods, Grande Cheese Company, Meister Cheese Company, and Valley Queen Cheese highlight a broader industry trend toward larger-scale production, increased efficiency, and value-added dairy ingredient capabilities.

These investments reflect long-term confidence in domestic and global dairy markets, while also demonstrating how processors are balancing growth with labor challenges, sustainability initiatives, and operational consistency. For dairy manufacturers, the projects provide insight into where capital investment is being directed and how facilities are being designed to support future demand.

Key Takeaways

• Multiple major cheese processors are expanding production capacity through new facilities and plant upgrades.
• Automation continues to play a significant role in improving consistency, reducing labor requirements, and supporting growth.
• Demand for cheese, dairy proteins, and value-added ingredients remains a key driver behind expansion investments.
• Whey processing, wastewater treatment, and utility infrastructure are receiving significant investment alongside cheesemaking operations.
• Processors are positioning themselves for long-term domestic and export market growth.

At A Glance

• Estimated Reading Time: ≈5 minutes
• Original Publish Date: May 2026
• Source: Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association

Cheese production growth continues strong on the eve of June Dairy Month 2026. Showcased here are a few key greenfield and expansion projects among many around the nation: Leprino Foods Company and Grande Cheese Company will ramp up capacity this summer while Valley Queen Cheese Factory’s expansion is fully complete and Meister Cheese Company begins construction on an all-new make facility to grow 150 percent.

Leprino Foods Completing Lubbock

The new Leprino Foods manufacturing facility in Lubbock, TX, is approaching full operational capacity – expected in late summer. With two cheese production lines, the plant’s products are destined for both domestic and international markets.

The new facility will process up to 8 million pounds of milk per day, and showcases technology to reduce labor and standardize consistency, according to Tony Eafanti, Leprino’s Vice President, Business Development. “The facility has been able to incorporate technologies we’ve proven at other facilities,” he noted.

Line 1 in the 850,000 square foot plant is producing Leprino’s signature IQF cheese for the global pizza trade. Line 2 continues to ramp up production of 6-pound blocks for worldwide restaurant markets.

While global economic conditions may pose short-term consumer headwinds, Leprino Director of Dairy & Trade Policy Alison Krebs noted that the company remains confident in long-term demand for dairy protein and adoption of pizza in a growing number of markets.

More than 600 employees fill the three shifts at the Lubbock plant. Eafanti noted that the quality of the local talent pool, along with the welcoming nature of Texas and the city, made Lubbock the frontrunner when Leprino searched for a new central U.S. location. Construction began in summer 2022 and production began in early 2025.

Grande Expands Chilton

Grande is running initial cheese production trials at its new mozzarella facility in Chilton, WI. Purchased in the spring of 2023, Grande quickly decided to scale up the mid-sized facility to become one of its flagship cheese production sites.

“We continue to see positive opportunities in the pizza space, supporting our core independent pizzeria operators,” said Greg Siegenthaler, Vice President of Milk Marketing, Strategic Sourcing and Sustainability with Grande. “And we’re growing export markets with dedicated associates in Mexico and Central American markets.”

Grande is hiring and training teams to operate the new facility – about 75 associates in all. And Chilton really is new – about 80 percent of square footage at the facility is new construction and all equipment is new, Siegenthaler said. The plant will begin making cheese for sale this summer and ramp up production through the remainder of the year.

The site will reach 2 million pounds of milk per day, and output about 70 million pounds of mozzarella cheese each year. Automation technology will prepare cheese production for shipment to Grande’s processing and shredding operation in Fond du Lac, WI.

Siegenthaler noted that Grande’s farm partners are eager to see this growth and are well positioned to grow alongside Grande’s current and future growth strategies. Grande procures all its fresh milk from farms within 50 miles of each cheese plant, he noted.

Meister in Final Expansion Phase

Meister Cheese Company in Muscoda, WI, is embarking on a third phase of construction that will increase their annual cheese production capacity and whey processing to meet the demands of customer growth. Following recent construction of a larger, relocated milk intake, then a just-completed addition to their cold storage capacity, Meister is now building an all-new cheesemaking facility adjacent to their existing plant to lift total milk throughput from 1 billion pounds per year to 2.5 billion pounds.

“We have grown as far as our existing infrastructure could take us,” said Meister Cheese President Alex Meister. “We want to continue to support our customers’ needs, and with the fourth generation of the family taking the lead here, we’re positioned for success into the future.”

Meister produces a mix of retail specialty cheeses and value-added cheese for foodservice. Their ahead-of-its-time Cows First animal welfare program, built by CEO Scott Meister with dairy farm partners, has sparked sales growth that continues today. “We’re encouraging milk expansion from our partners,” Scott Meister said. “We’re lucky to have the high-quality milk we see from farms in the Driftless Region, and they are eager to grow alongside us,” he added.

The new cheese plant is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2027. Meister will increase its workforce by 20 percent, while adding labor-saving automation in the cheese make procedure. Meister is upgrading whey protein concentration capacity and expanding its wastewater system alongside the cheese plant construction.

Valley Queen Fully Operational

Valley Queen Cheese is now running at 100 percent capacity after its transformative expansion begun in May 2022, according to CEO Doug Wilke. The expansion reached startup in January 2025, delivering a 60 percent increase in cheese production capacity and significantly enhancing the plant’s ability to support future growth.

Key investments include a new cheese plant, expanded membrane and WPC processing capacity, milk receiving, improvements in water recovery and storage systems, and major upgrades to utilities and wastewater treatment.

The Milbank, SD, plant now processes nearly 3 billion pounds of milk annually and produces over 330 million pounds of cheese, along with value-added dairy ingredients that support both domestic and global demand. “We’ve had excellent support from our buyers,” Wilke said, noting that cheese sales and increasing demand for high-quality, protein-enriched dairy products is driving growth. 

The expansion added 140 new employees at Valley Queen, Wilke said, and he noted there’s an intense effort to teach these new associates about the cheesemaking process and quality the “VQ way.” He told WCMA, “Startup of the equipment went very well, but that’s the easy part.” The ongoing focus is achieving our expected standards, he said, both in process optimization and product performance.

Growth at Valley Queen Cheese offered the opportunity for advanced automation systems and robotics, enhancing food safety, improving consistency, and reducing ergonomic strain for employees.

These and other major cheese expansions will fuel success in the U.S. dairy industry for years to come.

HART Perspective

Large-scale expansion projects often extend well beyond adding cheesemaking capacity. As production volumes increase, processors must also address upstream and downstream requirements such as milk intake, whey handling, automation, packaging, storage, utilities, and sanitation systems.

Many of the projects highlighted in this report include investments in labor-saving technologies, process standardization, and infrastructure upgrades that support operational efficiency at higher production levels. As facilities grow, maintaining consistency, product quality, and throughput becomes increasingly dependent on reliable equipment integration and scalable processing systems.

What This Means For Dairy & Cheese Processors

• Capacity expansions continue to signal confidence in long-term cheese and dairy ingredient demand.
• Automation investments are helping processors improve consistency while addressing workforce challenges.
• Growth projects increasingly include whey processing, wastewater, and utility upgrades alongside cheesemaking equipment.
• Scalable production systems help support future growth without sacrificing product quality.
• Facility modernization efforts are focusing on efficiency, standardization, and operational reliability.

Attribution

This article references industry reporting and data originally published by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. HART Design & Manufacturing has added independent analysis and dairy-processing context. The original publishers did not contribute to or review these additions.

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