Co-op's sole packaging operation temporarily on hold

Fire at Wisconsin cheese packaging plant breaks link in supply chain

By Heidi Parsons

- Last updated on GMT

Before the fire: the AMPI cheese packaging plant in Portage, Wisconsin.
Before the fire: the AMPI cheese packaging plant in Portage, Wisconsin.

Related tags Milk

A fire at a Portage, Wisconsin cheese processing and packaging facility is creating distribution headaches for the 2,600 members of a regional dairy cooperative.

The facility is one of 10 plants run by Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI), a co-op based in New Ulm, Minnesota.

Eight of those plants are dedicated to making bulk and powdered cheese products, while packaging is centralized at two locations. Portage handles all cheese packaging for the co-op and New Ulm does all the butter packaging.

“The good news is that the fire was confined to the dry storage and ingredient warehouse on the first floor,”​ AMPI spokesperson Sarah Schmidt told FoodProductionDaily.

Smoke gets in your eyes

AMPI cheese products
AMPI members make processed and natural cheeses, which are packaged at the Portage facility.

“The bad news is that smoke from the fire filled several other rooms in the plant,” ​she said. “We’re still going through all the inventory to determine how much finished product was shipped before the fire started that day.”

“We’re also trying to determine how much of what’s left is ingredients vs. finished product, and how much can be used vs. being declared a loss. Because the investigation and analysis are still ongoing, it’s too early to determine the level of product loss or how much damage [in financial terms] was done to the facility.”

What caused the fire also remains to be determined, Schmidt added.

Safety a bright spot

It can be hard to find a silver lining in a billowing cloud of black smoke, but the other bit of good news is that no one was injured in the blaze.

There were about 70 employees in the plant when the fire broke out, Schmidt said. All of them were safely evacuated.

Firefighters from several surrounding communities responded to the blaze, and were on the scene for more than four hours, according to local media.

The plant was closed the day after the fire, but this week about 225 employees were called back to the plant to assist with cleanup, Schmidt said.

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