By Paul Downer

Community Editor

It has been 100 years since the doors first opened at Bongards’ Creameries, but business continues to grow for the regional cooperative located between Norwood Young America and Cologne.

The company’s story began in October, 1908 when 72 farmers from the area came together to form a cooperative at $25 a share. They did so because there was no creamery nearby where they could bring their milk.

From those humble beginnings, a business took root that has become nationally recognized as an innovative leader in the dairy industry. Inspired leadership and a continued quest to broaden the company’s capabilities preserved the cooperative through difficult times in the 1930s and has led to steady growth up to the present.

In 2007, the company posted $350 million in sales. Over 400 farmers owned a share of the business, and the local facility boasted 174 employees (96 more jobs were created in Perham, Minn. when the company acquired a plant there in 2003).

The local plant and warehouse complex now covers 12 acres and is home to state-of-the-art automated processing equipment for the production of processed cheese.

Local residents are invited to an open house at the Bongards’ facility on Saturday, June 21 to help the cooperative celebrate its 100th anniversary. Lunch will be served, a drawing will be held and prizes will be awarded.

In addition, Princess Kay will be on hand to join in the festivities, as will the Carver County Dairy Princesses and ambassadors.

Leadership and innovation

When farmers brought their whole milk to the new facility, which was completed in early 1909, they received 80 percent back in the form of skim milk. The rest was used for producing cream and butter. No cheese was made at the facility at the time.

Thirty years into operations, the founding manager, Fred Hedtke retired and B. E. “Jack” Budahn stepped into the general manager’s position. It was 1938, the Great Depression was in full swing and the cooperative had fallen on hard times. The expectation was that Budahn would buy out the farmers.

Instead, Budahn oversaw the recovery of the business and led Bongards’ to begin producing cheese, its soon-to-become staple item. Production of cheddar cheese began in 1942, and technology patented by Budahn himself allowed the cooperative to begin drying whey, the watery by-product of cheese production.

“Cheese and whey powder turned this small town co-op into an internationally-recognized leader in the industry,” said Keith Grove, general manager of Bongards’ Creameries since 2005.

By 1951, Bongards’ was producing one million pounds of cheese every month, and by 1968 the cooperative was using the world’s first automated continuous cheese making system.

Further innovations allowed Bongards’ to begin producing processed cheese in 1974, and new Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) equipment and a block conveyor were the first of their kind to be installed in a cheese plant in the United States.

In 1981, Bongards’ reached $100 million in sales.

The present

The Bongards’ brand may not have the kind of instant name-recognition of other dairy companies such as Land O’Lakes, but there is a reason for that. According to Grove, only about two percent of the cooperative’s business comes from its own retail brand, which is sold only in local stores.

“We mostly create private label cheese products for some of the leading brands in addition to providing cheese to restaurants nationwide,” said Grove.

As for the success and longevity of the company, Grove said that much of it is due to the loyalty of the farmer-owners and the constancy of Bongards’ customers.

“We have third-generation owners here. There’s been a lot of consistency and dedication on the part of the owners,” said Grove. “Also, we have a good, solid customer base. We have some long-time customers and some newer customers that appreciate the quality that Bongards’ can offer.”

Karen Nagel, a member of the Bongards’ office staff, said that many area farmers have shipped their milk to the creamery for generations. Some have shipped for 30 years, some 40 years and some as long as 50 years.

“I think it’s great we have that many devoted farmers shipping to us over that period of time,” Nagel said.

Another key component to the cooperative's success has been the dedication of the its employees. Some, such as Richard Tellers, have been working at the facility for more than 50 years. Nagel herself has been working at Bongards’ since 1965, and she said several others have been around for 40 years. There are also a good deal of employees who have worked for 20 to 30 years as well.

Finally, Grove credited the company’s quest to add value to each product and expand the cooperatives product base for its successful century of existence.

The future

Business continues to expand for the cooperative both nationally and internationally, and Grove said that the increasing demand for food products represents a “growing opportunity” for a progressive company like Bongards’.

The Perham plant now produces all of Bongards’ natural cheese, and the capability to produce natural cheese allows the company to control its own quality.

“I’m excited about where Bongards’ is going because we’re increasing our capabilities and the control of our supply chain — and Bongards’ has always had great quality — but I think we have measures in place to ensure greater consistency and quality,” said Grove. “We have resources in place now to add to product innovation to make new products for specific customer needs. Those will be our primary driving force.”

On a more local scale, the company is expanding and improving its own retail store to attract more customers to the site. Work on the expansion should be complete in a matter of months.

Nagel agreed that the future looks bright for the company, citing a particular increase in sales in recent years.

“With the economy you never know, but I see business growing and I sure hope that we’ll be around another 100 years,” she said.