Sheana Davis Epicurian Connection

Understanding Cheese & Pricing from the Farm to the Market American Cheese Society Presentation Friday July 23, 2004 10:30-12:00 Presented by Sheana Davis
Joe Widmer Widmers Cheese Cellars Inc, Cheese maker, Wisconsin George Crave Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese LLC, dairy farmer and cheese maker, Wisconsin Linda Luke Regional Sales Manager, The CheeseWorks Limited, New Jersey Gordon Edgar Retailer, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, San Francisco Gale Gand Restaurant Executive Pastry Chef / Partner of Tru, Chicago
Farmland: Cost of land, taxes, insurance, liability, facility maintenance and utilities including electricity, propane, gas, diesel and water. Animals: Feed, grains, water, land, health and animal husbandry, handling of waste. Dairy Farmer: Labor, benefits, insurance for liability, facility, personal, employee and misc. Dairy Farmer costs directly include farmland and animals. Handling of fluid milk: Labor, transportation, equipment, maintenance on premise. Labor: Payroll, benefits, taxes, uniforms and labor. Transportation: Fees to transport milk from the dairy to processor and or cost to handle fluid milk. Transport whey and waste at $.35-$.50 per pound Average of $.50-$1.10 per 100 weight Cheese Maker, processor: A cheese maker who purchases on a regulated fluid milk market, and produce and sell on an open market. Costs include yet are not limited to labor cost, benefits, maintaining facility and equipment, updating facility to current regulations, insurance, including FDA, state, county, HACCP. Storage for ages cheeses are an additional cost, either includes maintenance and energy source or transportation to storage location and labor for handling. Distributor: Ordering, stocking appropriate volume, handling, selling, shipping, handling, delivering to account and education of sales staff. Retail and Restaurants: Ordering, stocking, receiving, handling, packaging, education to consumers, sampling, waste and demand and supply. End Use Consumer: Understanding the process and price of American Cheeses.
The Journey: Cheese from Farm to Market
Helping to bring the conference theme to life, this informative session explores the key stops in milk's journey from farm, to cheesemaker, to marketer, to retailer or chef, to ultimate consumer. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how the various pieces of the production and supply puzzle fit together, how products and pricing change along the way and provide an overview of the parts played by all channel partners to ensure that safe, delicious products reach the table. Moderator: Sheana Davis, The Epicurean Connection.
From the Farm to the Table:Steps for the Cheese
Fluid Milk Cheese Maker Distributor Price Retailer Restaurateur End use consumer	Price per hundredweight Price per pound Price per pound Price per pound to consumer Price per pound to consumer Final price per pound
Direct cheese maker outlets for sales: On premise retail, with 25-30% mark up Distributor with 25-31% mark up Direct Mail or Internet with a 25-30% mark up
Distributor to retailer: A restaurant purchases the cheese from a distributor with 30-70% Retail with a mark up ranging from 30%-120% mark up Restaurants with a menu mark up ranging from 30-70% End use consumer pays the final price. Sample priced cheeses: Toma Retail Price Distributor Price Cheese Maker Fluid Milk processor

July 2004

"The problem lies within the fact that the processors are purchasing milk in a government-regulated market from the individual producer. After the cheese has been produced, the cheese maker is selling on an open market to the unregulated distribution channels and retail market. Since 1935, fluid milk has not been sold for less than the regulated purchase price".

~Ig Vella, CEO Vella Cheese and Cheese Maker

Outline of the process of the fluid milk to cheese:
Dairy farmer:
Transportation:
Processor
Distributor
Retail and restaurants
End use consumer

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