Alto Dairy Cooperative (ADC) was a farmer-owned dairy cooperative in

Waupun, Wisconsin Waupun is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, Dodge and Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,344 at the 2020 census. Of this, 7,795 were in Dodge County, and 3,549 were in Fond du ...

. Founded in 1894, it is the oldest farmer-owned cooperative in the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and boasts the nation's largest

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

producing plant east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

.''JSOnline,'
Sale of Dairy Co-op Proposed
, retrieved January 30, 2008 As of 2007, ADC had two cheese plants, one in Black Creek and one in Waupun, as well as 467 employees. The cooperative has a membership of about 500 farmers. In 2007, it handled $378 million in sales and had a net income of $19.6 million.

Sale of Alto Dairy

In 2008, Alto Dairy Cooperative was sold to

Saputo Inc. Saputo Inc. is a Canadian dairy company based in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1954 by the Saputo family. It produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream prod ...

, a Canadian cheese company. Alto Dairy still operates under its original name as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

. This sale was approved by 98% of the farmers who are active in the cooperative, allowing Saputo Cheese USA, Inc. to purchase the dairy cooperative for $160 million.

Notable achievements

In 2007, ADC appeared on the History channel series

Modern Marvels ''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's f ...

. The show interviewed employees and filmed the production process at the Black Creek cheese plant, chosen for its diverse cheese-making abilities. Alto Dairy

Colby-Jack Colby-Jack, or Co-jack/Cojack, is an American cheese made from Colby and Monterey Jack. It is classified as semi-hard in texture and is mild due to its two-week aging process. It is generally sold in a full-moon or a half-moon shape when it is ...

cheese won an award at the World Championship Cheese and butter contest in 2006 and 2008. The prize-winning cheese was from the Black Creek cheese plant.''World Dairy Diary''.
Colby-Jack Takes The Prize
. Retrieved March 17, 2008.

References

{{Saputo Companies based in Wisconsin Dairy products companies of the United States Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin Dairy cooperatives Agricultural cooperatives in the United States