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About Us

Our story, the tradition of our family...

Photo: Original Springside Cheese Factory located on Springside Road in Wisconsin.

Rich in the tradition of Wisconsin cheesemaking, Springside Cheese carries on a family legacy of producing the finest hand-crafted, natural cheeses.

It’s no secret that cheese making has a long history in Wisconsin. Once the wheat industry lost its economic luster in the mid-1850s, cheese became Wisconsin’s next lucrative endeavor. Once a simple and sensible means to preserve milk, neighborhood cheese makers began branching out, not only providing cheese to much of the state, country, and in some cases world, but also in invoking the beginnings of cheese making as an art.

Wisconsin’s cheese makers perfected the art of making cheese, regulated dairy farms and cheese factories and became the only state to license its cheese makers. A flavorful mixture of heritages joined together in Wisconsin, joining, too, their legacies of cheese making from abroad, including a variety of cheeses from Poland, England, France, Italy and Germany.

Northeastern Wisconsin is no stranger to these quarter century old traditions of making cheese. Springside Cheese had its own beginnings just after the largest waves of European immigration sent settlers Wisconsin’s way. Springside Cheese’s first factory was founded a midst the rolling hills and valleys north of Green Bay, near a local fresh spring, hence its namesake, in the year 1908 and has been producing natural, hand-crafted cheeses ever since.

Seventy years after its opening, the history held in Springside Cheese’s walls was married to the heartfelt passion of cheese maker Wayne Hintz. The marriage of legacy and passion gave birth to a new generation of cheese making. Hintz is the son of a dairy farmer, the late Alfred Hintz, and nobody was surprised when he followed his dreams of making a living in agriculture, following in the footsteps of his father and future father-in-law. His father’s homestead dairy, a farm he built with his bare hands, is currently owned and operated by Hintz’s brother, Dennis Hintz, and provides Springside Cheese with fresh, rGBh-free milk to this day.

Hintz’s former father-in-law, the late Eugene Winter, was one of three brothers who lived and breathed the art of hand-milling cheese, a craft learned from their father. Each owned and ran his own cheese factory. During a time Hintz refers to as “the romantic period” of cheese, a time when cheese makers were revered and Wisconsin’s pride in cheese making was apparent from the wealth of family-owned cheese factories—one on every corner—, he learned the trade from the Winter family. He combined his upbringing in rearing cattle and producing quality milk with the art of milk preservation—creating high quality, rich and flavorful Wisconsin cheese.

After over a decade of studying the art of cheese making and acquiring his license, Hintz bought his own small factory—Springside Cheese—in the fall of 1973. He spent the early years dedicating his time to producing only the finest Cheddar cheese—which later became an award-winning cheese—and expanding his factory and cheese store. Now, forty years later, he’s won several cheese making awards, both nationally and internationally, for his semi-hard Bandaged Cheddar and White Cheddar. His “squeaky” cheese curds are famously craved throughout the country, especially now that Springside has an online store, allowing consumers to buy its cheese nationwide. In addition to the cheese store attached to the factory in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, Springside Cheese Corporation opened stores in Stiles, Wisconsin, and most recently, in Pueblo, Colorado.

Making cheese has always been, and continues to be, a family tradition at Springside Cheese. The legacy of the Hintz family’s long tradition and passion for cheese making continues with a fourth generation as Hintz’s two eldest sons join Springside Cheese to learn the trade, to share in the passion that is cheese making.

As Springside Cheese enters a new generation, it will remain one of Northeast Wisconsin’s longest running factories, and the quality and taste you've come to expect will continue for years to come. In addition, Springside Cheese looks forward to creating and introducing an exquisite line of artisan and organic cheeses, using inspiration from our own German heritage as well as other rich tastes we love. Making cheese is our family tradition. Make serving it yours.

HISTORY TIMELINE

Winter 2012
Springside Cheese expands to Colorado, opening its first retail store outside of Wisconsin. The store is managed by Keith Hintz, the eldest son of Wayne hintz, owner and cheesemaker of Springside Cheese.

Spring 2011
Wayne Hintz, owner and cheesemaker of Springside Cheese, takes Best of Class and Second Award at the 2011 United States Championship Cheese Contest for his producing of Bandaged White Cheddar for Red Barn Dairy Products.

Winter 2011
Springside Cheese goes shopping online! Launching their very own online cheese store; making their specialty cheese available across the USA.

Summer 2010
Looking to share with their customers the history and specialty products, a redesigned website is launched highlighting the rich tradition of Springside Cheese.

Fall 2009
Springside Cheese wins 2009 Best in Class at the 2009 United States Championship Cheese Contest held in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Spring 2009
Looking to strengthen its retail business, a new retail store is opened in Stiles, Wisconsin, providing cheese, wine and bulk foods.

Winter 2000
Ushering in the new millennium, Springside Cheese goes live on the Internet.

Spring 1996
Management decides that the creation of a separate trucking company is necessary to maximize efficiency and profitability. SpringsideTrucking is incorporated in April, 1996.

Summer 1995
Production running 19 hours a day, 6 days a week turning 140000 pounds of milk into 15500 pound of cheese. Employing 40 full time and 5 part time individuals the company adds Pepper Jack, Caraway, Onion & Garlic, Edam and Reduced Fat Cheddar to the product line. In addition to the 40 pound blocks, 22 pound daisies and 12 pound midgets, Springside also produces 12 pound longhorns and 2.5 pound gems.

Spring 1982
Construction of a new manufacturing facility and retail store, located 4 miles south of the original plant, begins. Cheese production grows to 4000 pounds daily, supplying 5 wholesale accounts with distribution reaching throughout the Midwest. Colby and Monterey Jack 40 pound blocks are added to the Springside product line.

Summer 1979
Springside begins to receive the majority of the milk via larger and more efficient bulk trucks instead of 10 gallon milk cans. With this transformation, the installation of (bulk) storage tanks becomes necessary to hold the milk until processing. Employment is increased to 6 and the total daily milk intake is at 20000 pounds.

Fall 1974
Production is shifted from 40 pound blocks to Cheddar 12 pound midgets and 22 pound daises. With this change, an additional employee is hired and a new packaging system installed. This new system includes the additional surface drying of the cheese and the application of a paraffin wax coating.

Fall 1973
Wayne R. Hintz and family purchase a small cheese factory. The factory begins with 60 dairy farmers supplying 17000 pounds of milk each day, of which 52 of the farmers ship their milk in 10 gallon milk cans and 8 of the farms are picked up by a bulk truck. With the help of 2 employees, the incoming milk is turned into 1700 pounds of Cheddar 40 pound blocks, 7 days a week.

OUR LOCATIONS

Springside Cheese Corp.
7989 Arndt Rd
Oconto Falls, WI 54154
920-829-6395
Springside Cheese Shop
517 W. 5th
Pueblo, CO 81003
719-696-9120
Proudly WI Cheese

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