Polly-O is an American brand of cheese products, currently owned by BelGioioso Cheese Inc. The original Polly-O manufacturing company had been established in 1899, operating independently until it was acquired by

Kraft Foods Inc. Kraft Foods Inc. was a Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion wor ...

in 1986. Kraft owned it until 2020, when it sold its natural cheese division to Groupe Lactalis. In 2021, Groupe Lactalis entered into a purchase agreement with Belgioioso to sell Polly-O, as a requirement by the US Department of Justice's antitrust review of Lactalis's purchase from Kraft Heinz.

Overview

Polly-O was started by Giuseppe Pollio in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1899 and bought by

Kraft Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

in 1986. Pollio brought his family's traditional cheese-making Italian traditions to America with him. About 100 years ago when Pollio first came to America, he went to

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

in Brooklyn, New York and set up his

ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the ...

and

mozzarella Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...

kettles on the beach after coming through

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

. The Pollio company changed its name to Polly-O in the 1940s to due to the original name's similarity to the

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

epidemic. Polly-O cheese is sold in many US grocery chain stores and is well known for its ricotta, mozzarella, and

string cheese String cheese is any of several different types of cheese where the manufacturing process aligns the proteins in the cheese, which makes it stringy. When mozzarella is heated to 60 °C (140 °F) and then stretched, the milk proteins ...

s. Most Polly-O cheese is manufactured in

Campbell, New York Campbell is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 3,163 at the 2020 census. The name is from Robert Campbell, an early landowner. The town is centrally located in the county and is northwest of Corning. History ...

. Polly-O is one of the largest producers of Italian cheeses. This company produces almost one hundred million pounds of cheese each year.

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

calls the company's string cheese line "a work of art".Kate Bratskeir.
We Tested 11 String Cheeses And Separated The Winners From The Losers
. ''Huffington Post'', November 6, 2014.

References

External links

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March 8, 1998 Food and drink companies established in 1899 Snack food manufacturers of the United States 1899 establishments in New York City {{Food-company-stub