Our Story
It began by finding the right caves.
While serving in France during World War I, a young American soldier developed a love of French cheeses and a desire to become a cheese maker. Upon returning home to Wisconsin, he spent time learning the trade, then set out to find a place to set up his own business, and stumbled upon a cave entrance in Faribault, Minnesota.
The caves provided precisely the right temperature and environment to produce the perfect authentic, cave-aged cheeses.
In 1935, the caves were renovated, turning them into a cheese-making facility becoming the first ever Blue cheese maker in America!
Fun Fact!
From caves to sustainability
On top of improved processing came several environmental benefits (reduced energy use, water consumption, packaging use, and more), because as a global leader in dairy processing, we have a responsibility to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in everything that we do.
In 2019, Saputo announced a formal commitment to accelerate sustainability performance through our 2025 Environmental Pledges. These targets represent another strong step in our journey to create shared value through the Saputo Promise.
Saputo aims to:
Climate
- Reduce CO, intensity of our operations by 20%.
- Reduce the energy intensity of our operations by 70%.
Water
- Reduce water intensity of our operations by 10%.
- Improve our wastewater quality year-over-year.
Waste
- Reduce our total waste by 25%.
- Increase our diversion rate to 75%.
- Reduce our food waste by 50%.
- Reduce our material use by 15%.
- Ensure 100% of our packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable.
- Ensure our packaging includes at least 75% of recycled or renewable content.