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Introduction
Specialty cheese marketing pioneer Dan Carter, Mayville, Wisconsin,
carries more than 50 years' experience and expertise in the dairy
industry. In 1975, he and his wife, Jane, formed their own company,
Dan Carter, Inc., a unique marketing business that championed Wisconsin
cheeses. After 25 years of working with small- to medium-sized
processors, and having established his company as the chief innovator
in the U.S. specialty cheese industry, Mr. Carter "retired." In
typical fashion, he immediately traveled to Washington, D.C. to
work with Senator Herb Kohl on securing funds to establish a new
not-for-profit center that would perpetuate rural dairy production
and milk processing excellence in Wisconsin. Today, the Dairy Business
Innovation Center has assisted more than 150 clients in developing
and marketing value-added products.
You've been incredibly successful in marketing Wisconsin specialty
and artisan cheeses for more than 50 years. What is your secret
to success?
Retirement did not agree with me a few years ago when I stepped
down from the company Jane and I founded in 1975. I most enjoyed
assisting people achieve what they wanted to get done. Passionate
people have taught me that they can do extraordinary things if
given the right environment. I can be guilty of doing too much
and not seeing mistakes coming; what I'm not guilty of is making
the same mistake twice.
In 2003, after retiring, you immediately went to Washington, D.C.
and led an effort to secure grant funds to start a new non-profit
organization to help people enter the dairy manufacturing segment.
What led you to this decision?
I met a great friend when considering retirement—Dr. Laurie
Greenberg—who wrote our request grant to Senator Kohl for the
financing of what would become the Dairy Business Innovation Center
(DBIC) dream. Laurie currently has her own consulting business, Cultural
Landscapes, and also serves on the DBIC team. The majority of our friends
are from the industry, and the DBIC is a team of professionals who care
passionately about Wisconsin and the dairy industry.
Explain what DBIC is and how it differs from most companies?
The Dairy Business Innovation Center is a not-for-profit organization
dedicated to growing specialty and artisan cheese dairy businesses.
The Center has a team roster of 20 world-class dairy consultants
who partner with clients to suggest technical services, including
business planning, product development, facility assessment, distribution
and logistics, outreach and communications, marketplace development,
marketing expertise and packaging and labels. In some instances,
our team works to move a client beyond the mindset that just because
they have made a fine dairy product, the world will come, pick
it up, pay a premium and make them rich.
During its first three years in operation, the Dairy Business
Innovation Center has assisted more than 150 dairy producers
and businesses in starting or growing a specialty dairy business.
Did you expect this type of overwhelming industry response and
what does it signify?
Never did we suspect the reception that the industry has shared
with the DBIC. The Value Added Dairy Initiative (VADI) personnel
are our partners and are responsible for much of our client success.
But in the end it is the market that decides success or failure
with patience, passion and philosophy making the difference.
DBIC has many partners in the dairy industry. Who are they?
DBIC partners with a host of existing providers of industry leadership
programs, including the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade
and Consumer Protection, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Wisconsin
Cheese Makers Association, the Agriculture Colleges at UW Madison
and UW River Falls, Center for Dairy Research, Wisconsin Department
of Commerce and the Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute.
Today, 80 of Wisconsin's 115 cheese plants are producing at
least one type of specialty cheese. What's driving this trend?
The specialty cheese trend is a response to the need for added-value
products that have increasing consumer demand. Wisconsin is blessed
with a glacial "terroir" providing abundant agricultural
diversity and generations of innovative cheesemakers to capture
the resulting excellence in tantalizing products.
Tell us about some of the most exciting dairy happenings that
are currently taking place.
I continue to be very excited about the growing number of educational
and innovative offerings taking place in Wisconsin. For the first
time ever, the DBIC in September took its Consumer Focus team to
Chicago. New product labels for UW River Falls, Roelli Cheese and
K&K Cheese went before a Chicago consumer panel to garner important
consumer feedback. In addition, representatives from Fox & Obel,
Bin 36, Pastoral, Marion Street Cheese Market, and C.E. Zuercher
were videotaped as they discussed and shared experiences on Wisconsin's
artisan and specialty dairy industry.
Second, Fromagination, a new artisan cheese shop, opened September
24, 2007, on Madison's Capitol Square. The store features Wisconsin
artisan cheeses in its extensive offering of savory products.
It promises to become a top-notch destination.
What challenges do specialty dairy businesses face and what
is the DBIC and its partners doing to help them succeed?
Entrepreneurs sometimes underestimate the extreme need for focused
passion to get them through the rough times—a visionary business
plan can be the basis of success. DBIC clients are encouraged to
never stop learning and to 'eat' change for breakfast, lunch and
dinner. Also, I believe that two of the greatest obstacles to fulfilling
success are greed and disregard for, and consequent loss of, community.
What are the most important changes taking place in Wisconsin’s
$20.6 billion dairy industry?
In farming, it is the acceptance of a full range of types and
sizes of dairy farms including the burgeoning consumer interest
in organic and grazed fluid milk and dairy products. In the cheese
sector, consumers are savoring wash rind products with full cave-aged
flavors, and there is increasing demand for blended milk cheeses
including cow, sheep and goat.
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