Arena Cheese: Awarded prestigious certification by British retail consortium

Contact: Jessica Knoble, 608-753-2501, jknoble@arenacheese.net

ARENA, Wis. – Arena Cheese announced today they were awarded the highest certification by the British Retail Consortium for meeting the demanding food safety standards under the guidelines of the Global Food Safety Initiative.

Bill Hanson, vice president and lead cheesemaker of Arena Cheese, said with the Food Safety Modernization Act’s focus on prevention of food safety problems and increased consumer attention on safe foods, the BRC certification validates to Arena cheese’s customers that a robust food safety program is in place. Arena Cheese sells to retailers and distributors across all 50 states and produces cheese for the Caribbean.

“We believe in constantly improving the quality of our cheeses,” Hanson said. “That’s the only direction acceptable for our Spring Green brand customers and our private label customers. We are proud to offer this new certification for our fine cheeses.”

The highest certification by the BRC comes on the heels of expansion at Arena Cheese. The company last year built a state-of-the art climate controlled warehouse for storing and curing cheese. The facility is large enough to hold more than one-half million pounds of cheese.

In addition, the cheesemaking team at Arena Cheese won a medal for Colby in the 2013 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay, Wisconsin this month. The award marks Team Arena’s ninth medal in the last 10 years in all national and international competitions for its stellar Colby and Colby/Jack cheese. Arena Cheese crafts authentic Colby and Colby/Jack cheese as well as all-natural hardwood Smoked Gouda cheese.

To learn more about Arena Cheese, contact Jessica Knoble at 608-753-2501 or email jknoble@arenacheese.net .