Agropur’s Ken Carothers achieves Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker distinction

We are thrilled to announce that Ken Carothers, Area Operational Excellence Manager at Agropur’s Little Chute plant, was recently awarded the prestigious Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker® certification for mozzarella.

The Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker® Program, recognized as one of the most rigorous and respected in the world, requires a minimum of 10 years of hands-on cheesemaking experience before candidates can even apply. Once accepted, participants undergo at least three years of intensive training and must pass a rigorous final exam. This certification is a testament to Ken's unwavering commitment to the craft and his exceptional skills.

Ken's journey in cheesemaking began in 2010 when he started a part-time sanitation position at Agropur’s plant in Little Chute. His passion for learning and improving his craft led him to transfer to the intake department and then onto production, where he started to help make cheese. In 2012, Ken earned his Wisconsin cheesemaker license, which ignited a spark for further learning. He moved into a supervisory role at Agropur, obtained a pasteurizer license and started taking short courses at The Center for Dairy Research (CDR) to continuously grow his knowledge base.