DFW showcases Wisconsin pride with new logo

The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin wants consumers to know if the private brand or branded cheese they’re eating is from Wisconsin, recently launching an enhanced "badge" to stamp on packaging.

The organization that represents dairy farmers and cheesemakers in the state talked about a need for transparency in the category as part of a Store Brands cheese report, and there’s also a clear emphasis on promoting the cheeses as proudly Wisconsin.

The logo or badge, as it is referred to internally, looks to boost awareness around Wisconsin cheesemakers who work with food service operators and reportedly work with the Whole Foods 365 brand to carry the new badge, according to the outlet Dairy Herd Management.

The badge is now on about 90% of cheese products it serves, a representative for the organization told Store Brands.

DFW said branding its cheeses works for Wisconsin cheesemakers and retailers, helping to increase retail sales by 4.4% when cheese is identified as being from Wisconsin. And that’s a lot of branding as 98% of U.S. grocers sell Wisconsin cheese, so the new badge on labels will help promote the products, according to Kirk Scott from Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin.

Currently, the new badge will be on more than 200 different brands of cheese, helping to identify that 90% of the milk produced in Wisconsin goes into cheesemaking, and 90% of that cheese is sold outside the state, per Scott’s blog post.