Cheesemaker Emmi Roth announced that it has officially opened its doors at the company’s new headquarters in Stoughton, Wis. The new 158,000-sq.-ft. building also houses Emmi Roth’s new state-of-the-art conversion facility, which will cup, bag, wedge, shred and crumble the company’s cheese products for a variety of brands.

In 2021, Emmi Roth acquired the Athenos business, strengthening the company’s long-standing dedication to the specialty cheese industry. With the acquisition came the need for more conversion and distribution capabilities.

“After several years of planning and construction, we are happy to finally be up and running at our new home in Stoughton,” says Tim Omer, president of Emmi Roth. “Our team has worked tirelessly over the past two years to make this dream a reality, which will significantly impact our business and our ability to better serve our customers.”

The facility enables Emmi Roth to control more of its supply chain and improves the U.S. cheese industry’s overall conversion landscape.

“With conversion now within our supply chain the new facility will drive for growth opportunities to our great portfolio of cheeses, strengthen our value add to customers, and increase our ability to service customers,” says Jordan Ehlen, director of manufacturing at Emmi Roth.

It has also become the single biggest sustainability project in Emmi Roth’s history, allowing for a substantial reduction in the amount of fuel and emissions spent transporting cheeses.

From a sustainability standpoint, the new facility means a:

• 49% reduction in transportation lanes, with 16 fewer lanes
• 26% reduction in trips per year, or 1,407 fewer trips
• 44% reduction in kilometers/fuel/CO₂, with 313,000 fewer kilometers, 113,075 fewer liters of fuel, and 402 fewer tons of CO₂ emissions

The facility is also all-electric, with no natural gas or propane service, which will help the company meet its NetZero by 2050 goals and reduce its use of fossil fuels.

As the new headquarters location, the site will also be a win for current and future team members. The facility is centrally located between Emmi Roth’s cheese plants in Wisconsin and will allow teams from different areas of the business to collaborate under one roof. Conversion team members will feel the benefits of working in a brand-new facility designed to minimize physical stress from lifting and bending and create the most efficient, effective workflows.

Employees have started arriving, and by February as many as 175 people will be working at the facility built in the robust farming community just outside of Madison. Eighty-five new Emmi Roth employees already have been hired and another 40 will join before February, adding about 125 new jobs to the Stoughton community.

“The startup of the new facility is in full swing,” says Ehlen. “Our team is really engaged and has taken on the challenges of the new facility with great pride and perseverance.”