Chalet Cheese Cooperative

Sure, many people think their job stinks, but only a few lucky workers are proud of that fact. They may be found at the Chalet Cheese Cooperative, a dairy factory located in Green County, Wisconsin. While Chalet Cheese makes a variety of dairy products, these days, it is best known as the last Limburger cheese plant in America.

Although the origins of Limburger cheese date back to the 15th century in the Wallonia region of Belgium, America’s Limburger obsession is traced back instead to the wave of Swiss immigration into southwest Wisconsin. The first commercial cheese factory in Green County was founded in 1868, and less than 20 years later, in 1885, a group of five dairy farmers formed the Blieler-Gibbons Factory to make Limburger cheese. This plant would eventually become the Chalet Cheese Cooperative.

Limburger cheese stood as a contrast to the refined and expensive Emmentaler that had become Wisconsin’s major export. Its unusual earthy tones and creaminess, to say nothing of the lower price, led it to become a popular cheese option for working class immigrants. The dairy farms soon couldn’t ship Limburger fast enough. By the 1930s, Green County produced nearly all of the nation’s Limburger cheese, totaling more than 7 million pounds per year. The local train line through Milwaukee became known as “The Limburger Special.”

Of course, this is also when Limburger began to earn its reputation for… pungency. Perhaps due to anti-immigrant bias, and also due to its, well, obvious stinkiness, Limburger cheese began to become maligned. It would be banned in cities, and postal workers would refuse to ship it. As American tastes changed and refrigeration became more common, Limburger sales would continue to dip. Where there were once 11 plants in Green County that produced Limburger cheese, Chalet Cheese would eventually stand alone.

The Chalet Cheese Cooperative is a producer-owned dairy co-operative of more than a dozen family farms, who together produce the milk and share in the profits of cheesemaking. The plant was built expressly for Limburger cheese through an arrangement with Kraft, but these days, 85 percent of its sales are for Swiss, brick, and other cheeses. 

Nevertheless, the factory still produces nearly half a million pounds of Limburger cheese each year, mostly distributed to wholesalers and sold under a variety of labels. (No matter the brand name, if it is American Limburger cheese, it originates from this co-op.) Every piece of Limburger cheese is rubbed by hand with the same mother culture that has existed since 1885, and then aged in the cellar. Limburger quickly goes from mild to funky to inedible within about six months of aging, so visitors and shoppers can get an array of flavors.

If you stop by during operating hours, you’ll likely be greeted by an actual working cheesemaker, who’ll be happy to let you try a sample of the goods. (Have no fear, Limburger has a full and rich taste that belies its reputation, nevertheless, ask for the milder variety first if you are not comfortable.) You can also sample many other award-winning cheeses, purchase Limburger accessories, or continue on your journey to a nearby tavern to order a Limburger sandwich. Either way, you can rest assured that you’ve experienced one of the longest-running, most unusual, and smelliest traditions of America’s working class.