Grande Cheese Acquires WI Whey Processing Facility

LOMIRA, Wis.Grande Cheese Company has acquired PGP International whey processing facility in Juda, Wis. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Grande is a leading manufacturer and marketer of fine Italian cheese and its Custom Ingredients Group is the firms dairy ingredients business unit. Grande operates five cheese plants and will now have a total of three whey processing plants throughout Wisconsin.

Grande has been consistently growing its cheese and whey business," said Wayne Matzke, President and CEO of Grande. Because we had already been supplying some of our whey to the PGP facility, this acquisition makes sense. It will also help support our future growth and diversification, as well as play a significant role in the stability of the Wisconsin dairy industry as this location receives whey from several other local cheese plants."

Commenting on the deal, Paul Graham, vice president of Grandes Custom Ingredient Group, said: As a leading international producer of Grade A whey isolates, whey proteins and lactose, this is an exciting acquisition. It will add significant capacity for our existing products as well as many new technologies to serve our customers." The products produced at the new Grande whey facility will be marketed under the Wisconsin Whey International brand.