Hilmar Medals in the 2025 United States Championship Cheese Contest

Hilmar, Calif. April 25, 2025. Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc. was awarded top honors at the CheeseCon banquet celebrating the United States Championship Cheese Contest® on April 17, 2025.

The contest is hosted biennially by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. More than 2,400 samples of cheese, butter, cultured products and dry dairy ingredients were evaluated this year with first, second and third awards presented in each category.

“Hilmar is honored to have received four awards in three categories,” shared Kyle Jensen, vice president global sales and marketing. “We are especially excited to share the acceptance of our first cheese award. This is a true testament to the dedication and commitment of our teams across the organization to produce high quality, innovative products.”

Hilmar TruSmoke® Hickory Smoked Cheddar took third place in the Open Class: Smoked Hard Cheeses category. Hilmar TruSmoke natural cheeses are slowly smoked utilizing Hilmar’s patented technology that integrates the smoke into the curd during the manufacturing process, unlike other smoked cheeses. Cheddar is one of four flavors available in the TruSmoke product line.

Hilmar PROfraction™ Beta received second place in the Whey Protein Isolate 90, Instantized category. PROfraction Beta is a lactose-free, instantized WPI that is rich in amino acids and aids in muscle synthesis. It is readily dispersible and has a neutral flavor profile, making it an ideal ingredient for powdered beverages and mixes.

Hilmar 8000 took both second and third place in the Whey Protein Concentrate 80 category. Hilmar 8000 is a highly functional 80% whey protein concentrate ideal for a variety of food and nutritional applications for basic fortification. It is a good source of high-quality protein to improve performance and overall health and well-being.

Ben Smith, cheese product manager; Lynn Ilano, cheese technologist; Muthu Ramanathan, ingredients technical manager; Chantelle Coelho, lead cheese technologist; and Ashley Cloward, associate cheese technologist proudly accepted the awards on behalf of the Hilmar team.

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About Hilmar™

Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc. uses the power and promise of dairy to improve lives together. We provide health and nutrition for consumers, contribute to brand success for our customers, create opportunities for employees, support independent milk producers and improve the communities where we live and work. With a focus on collaborative product innovation, real-time scalability and a progressive approach to sustainability, Hilmar^TM is a global leader in efficiently producing functional cheese and whey ingredients at scale. We deliver high-quality products to customers in more than 50 countries. Founded in 1984, Hilmar operates manufacturing plants in Hilmar, California; Dalhart, Texas and Dodge City, Kansas. For more information, visit www.hilmar.com and Linked In @Hilmar.

Media Contact:
Denise Skidmore
209-656-1197
dskidmore@hilmarcheese.com

Officials tour Hilmar’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant

Hilmar, Calif. March 17, 2025. Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc., one of the world’s largest cheese manufacturers and a global supplier of high-quality whey ingredients was joined by Kansas Governor Kelly, U.S. Senator Moran and other federal, state and local officials to officially mark the production of Hilmar cheese in Kansas.

“I am pleased that Hilmar Cheese Company chose to build its new production facility in Dodge City,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “This investment in our state is a strong signal to industry leaders around the globe that Kansas has the workforce and infrastructure for companies to be competitive.”

“Hilmar Cheese’s new processing facility in Dodge City is already creating new jobs and bolstering Kansas’ footprint in the dairy industry,” said Senator Moran. “I am grateful Hilmar chose to call Kansas home, and I have no doubt they will benefit from their partnerships with Kansas dairies and the local community.”

“We are grateful to the state and local officials who supported this project and thrilled to celebrate with them today,” shared David Ahlem, Hilmar’s President and CEO. “We chose to build in Dodge City because of the local and skilled labor force, supportive and expanding agricultural region and excellent transportation network. The superior collaboration with local, regional and state leaders in Kansas has further confirmed that we made the right choice.”

Hilmar’s Dodge City facility makes American style cheese in commercial 40-pound blocks which are then sold wholesale to customers and used in a variety of nutritious foods. The site also produces a wide range of high-quality innovative proteins to meet the needs of customers worldwide.

“We appreciate everyone who has helped bring us to this point,” said Ahlem. “Thank you to our internal teams, some of whom moved here, and the hundreds of contractors and suppliers who partnered with us to ensure the facility was built and operational on schedule. We are also grateful to the dairy farm families in Southwest Kansas for their investment to supply us milk.”

“Dodge City is a wonderful community,” he said. “We are very happy to be operating in Kansas.”

The Dodge City manufacturing site incorporates the latest technology in sustainability and conservation. The advanced instrumentation and automated control systems minimize the water needed to keep the plant clean and reduces energy use. Recycled water is used further to process protein, clean the facility and equipment and reclaim heat. Upgraded spray nozzles were installed for more efficient cleaning. The cleaning process also reuses rinse water.

The sustainability effort continues throughout the site with efficient pumps and equipment. These features will decrease the plant’s Green House Gas (GHG) intensity and minimize water use. Hilmar is part of the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment to achieve a carbon neutral dairy industry by 2050. The advancements in Dodge City will help Hilmar meet this goal.

Hilmar’s Dodge City site now employs nearly 250 people and represents more than $600 million in capital investment.

The company continues to hire and offers competitive wages, great benefits, and training along with long-term career growth opportunities. Hilmar is actively involved in the communities where they operate and supports local organizations and events like Dodge City Days. The annual Hilmar scholarship program awards students of its employees, milk producers, and community scholarships to support continuing education. This focus helps the company to fulfill its purpose of Improving Lives Together.

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About Hilmar™

Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc. uses the power and promise of dairy to improve lives together. We provide health and nutrition for consumers, contribute to brand success for our customers, create opportunities for employees, support independent milk producers and improve the communities where we live and work. With a focus on collaborative product innovation, real-time scalability and a progressive approach to sustainability, Hilmar TM is a global leader in efficiently producing functional cheese and whey ingredients at scale. We deliver high-quality products to customers in more than 50 countries. Founded in 1984, Hilmar operates manufacturing plants in Hilmar, California; Dalhart, Texas; and Dodge City, Kansas. For more information, visit www.hilmar.com and Linked In @Hilmar.

Media Contact:
Denise Skidmore
209-656-1197
dskidmore@hilmarcheese.com

Hilmar, CA. April 30, 2024

Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc. was awarded two silver medals at the CheeseExpo banquet celebrating the World Championship Cheese Contest on April 18, 2024.

The World Championship Cheese Contest is the premier cheese and dairy competition hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association biennially since 1957. This is this first year that Hilmar entered the contest after experiencing success in last year’s United States Championship Cheese Contest, joining the ring with over 3,300 entries from 25 countries.

Hilmar 9000 Whey Protein Isolate and Hilmar 9010 Instantized Whey Protein Isolate were both silver medalists in their respective categories. Hilmar 9000 is a 90% whey protein isolate with a neutral flavor and favorable mineral profile. It provides acid heat stability, high protein, low lactose and low fat content for use in bars and acidic beverages. With superior nutritive value, Hilmar 9000 is ideal for protein fortification.

Hilmar 9010 is an agglomerated instantized whey protein isolate derived from sweet dairy whey manufactured by a special cross-flow filtration process. While it shares many nutritional benefits and functional features with Hilmar 9000, it is designed for dry-mix applications to enhance dispersibility and quick hydration into solution.

Muthu Ramanathan, Hilmar’s Ingredients Technical Manager, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the Hilmar team and is pictured with Ben Smith, Hilmar’s Cheese Product Manager. Ben served as a technical judge for the cheese competition.

Hilmar’s B2B digital trading platform expands to global customers.

Hilmar, Calif. January 25, 2024. Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc., one of the world’s largest cheese manufacturers and a global supplier of high-quality whey ingredients, has expanded its HilmarConnect digital trading platform to give customers worldwide 24/7, real-time access to cheese availability, price and timing of shipments.

HilmarConnect Global, which provides 24/7 access to cheese availability and pricing transparency, is now accessible to Hilmar customers across the globe for 40 lb. block Cheddar sales. The intuitive digital platform offers flexibility to customers in pricing, volume and timing of shipments via its web-based desktop and mobile applications. Through live bidding events that occur every two weeks, we are bringing visibility to the real-time global supply and demand volatility of all customers. This allows customers to secure future Hilmar capacity now with the flexibility to adjust product variety closer to actual production dates to meet their unique business needs. It additionally presents improved price discovery and arbitrage opportunities, allowing customers to evaluate price and physical supply in a single event.

The platform has a track record of proven success for domestic customers who have already embraced the trading experience for opportunity cheese, which will continue. We are excited to add 40 lb block Cheddar Cheese Sales to the platform beginning today.

Investment in this platform, powered by Nui Markets, comes at a time when B2B buyers are asking for a digital purchasing experience. According to Wunderman Thompson Commerce, 49% of B2B purchases are now made online and 62% of B2B buyers would like to have dedicated smartphone apps through which they can purchase.¹

“Hilmar is dedicated to our philosophy of flexibility and responsiveness to our customer relationships, and we’re excited to provide this solution,” stated Travis Coffey, Director of Sales.

Click here to learn more about HilmarConnect Global and access the platform. To register your account, get in touch with your Hilmar sales manager or contact us.

¹ Lokschin, B. (2021, November 24). The Evolution of B2B Digital Commerce: From Siple to Sophisticated Selling. Forbes. The Evolution Of B2B Digital Commerce: From Simple To Sophisticated Selling (forbes.com)