March 2011
Phone: 260-463-4901 • Fax 888-439-6528 • The Hometown Treasure
Page 14
Guggisberg Cheese And Deutsch Kase Haus Brands To Merge
It has been two years since Guggisberg Cheese, Inc.
of Millersburg, Ohio, purchased the Deutsch Kase Haus
cheese factory in Middlebury, Indiana. In that two year
span many changes have taken place at Deutsch Kase
Haus, both in the physical plant and in the structure
of operation. One more alteration is about to take
place, one which will have a more widespread impact
than those made to this point.
This spring, Guggisberg plans to begin phasing
out the Deutsch Kase Haus brand name on products
made at the Indiana plant and convert it to their own.
The first stages of this change will occur in the stores
which run in consortium to the factories in Millersburg
and Middlebury. Guggisberg hopes to grow the value
of their brand by bridging the gap between the two
companies and introducing, for the first time, all of
their products under a sole united label.
Ryan Ramsey, Guggisberg’s marketing coordinator
since 2009, believes the move will provide a boost
to the company’s brand. “Guggisberg has been a
mainstay in northeast Ohio for over sixty years. People
here recognize our name as an innovative, quality
manufacturer of cheese products and have come to
know us as so through years of buying experience.
Deutsch Kase Haus’s wholesale customer base spreads
into territories which our traditional Swiss products
EXCHANGE STUDENT — continued from page 9
had the opportunity to pick a student that seemed like
a good fit for their family. From that point, they had
background checks and then a home study.
Chau Bui, pronounced Chow Boo-ee, decided
she wanted to be in the student exchange program in
order to learn about a different culture and how their
school system works. In order to be accepted into the
program Bui had to pass a test over her knowledge of
English and have grades that were good enough (the
equivalent of a B average.) She was slightly nervous to
travel to the United States but she has traveled on her
own to the Phillipines, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Her first thought about Westview was, “the most
different thing is travelling to different classrooms
and carrying all my books because I don’t like going
back to my locker. In Vietnam, teachers come to you.”
Bui only focused on studying when she first started
at Westview but she later discovered there was a lot to
participate in so she joined the speech team. Of course,
she had to attend at least one Westview basketball game
... “it was really fun and loud!”
The Stutzman girls Bethany, Jenny, and Jessica, all
really enjoy having Chau and along with their father,
find much pleasure in teasing her. Thankfully, Bui
doesn’t mind!
have not yet ventured. Rebranding our award winning
longhorn style cheeses under the Guggisberg name
seems a natural course of action to expand the
recognition of the brand further west.”
Presently, Guggisberg’s factories in Ohio and
Indiana have separate sales representatives to the
wholesale market. When asked how he felt the merge
would be received by current buyers of the Deutsch
Kase Haus brand, Ramsey said he doesn’t believe it will
present a problem, but insists there will be no rush.
“In terms of wholesale customers, we will be making
the switch on a company by company basis. Several
of Deutsch Kase Haus’s customers have also been
Guggisberg customers for many years, and we believe
they will embrace the idea of the brands merging. For
those buyers who are less comfortable with the idea, we
will continue to manufacture our products under the
Deutsch Kase Haus label until they feel ready to switch.”
Ramsey ended by stating the end goal in the
brand merger is to have all customers who do not use
a private label to be carrying the Guggisberg brand
within two years.
4-H — continued from page 2
homes of members or adult volunteers, churches,
or other community buildings, 4-H enables young
people to examine problems in their communities
and participate in their solution. Competence and
knowledge developed through 4-H work often leads
to career choices. 4-H is volunteer-based. In LaGrange
County, youth are guided and supported by a corps of
some 150 adult volunteers who typically serve as club
or project leaders.
Enrollment forms can still be obtained from
the Purdue Extension office in LaGrange or can be
downloaded by visiting the 4-H page at www.extension.
purdue.edu/lagrange. The 4-H program combines the
resources of LaGrange County government, business
and private sponsorships, Purdue University, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the voluntary efforts of
its members and adult leaders. For more information
about 4-H Youth Development, contact the Purdue
University Cooperative Extension Service at 499-6334
or visit its web page.
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