In northwest Wisconsin, about 25 miles from the Minnesota border, Schuman Cheese makes award-winning cheeses with techniques borrowed from French and Italian cheesemakers.

Consumers love their ice cream and other frozen and refrigerated treats and prefer them in their most natural forms. There is still a strong desire to eat healthy, but for many, not if it means giving up the indulgence factor. Several ice cream brands have taken on this challenge, creating lines that cut back on calories and sugar but with the mouthfeel consumers expect from ice cream.

Neal Schuman is perhaps the most ardent defender of Parmesan cheese in the United States. Incensed that some cheesemakers were adulterating grated Parm with cellulose, Schuman organized the True Cheese campaign, warning consumers and retailers that all was not right in shelf-stable grated Parmesan products.

Hispanic cuisine makes up a large portion of the food market in the United States, and the demand of Hispanic-style cheeses has been rising over the past two decades.

Finlandia Imported Butter, Parsippany, N.J., launched a spreadable butter with canola oil and a 25% reduced-fat spreadable butter with canola oil.