Intent to combine, advance care in rural Midwest
‘Think of it as the Oscars of our industry’
August 3, 2026
MARSHFIELD – The more than 40 different SKUs of cheese coming off the production lines at Nasonville Dairy, Co-owner Ken Heiman said, reflect cuisines from across the globe: “queso blanca, Swiss, Romano, Asiago, fontina, fettica, capulet, graviera, Monterey, Edam, Gouda, cheddar, Colby…” and on and on.
He can rattle off the list in mere seconds, but Heiman said Nasonville Dairy’s latest release is 100% Wisconsin-inspired: Beer Battered Cheese Curds.
For years, he said, Nasonville supplied the curd used by Ed & Sharon’s Restaurant & Catering in Merrill to create their “Better than Fair” beer-battered cheese curds.
As demand for the curds grew, Heiman said the owner expanded production and began supplying bars, restaurants, golf courses, food trucks and other businesses wholesale.
However, after the previous owner fell ill, he said Nasonville Dairy was asked to take over production.
The dairy, Heiman said, introduced its version of the cheese curds in June, using Nasonville’s signature yellow curds – sold frozen in two- and four-pound bags.
“It’s only been six months now since we started the process, and it’s going quite well,” he said. “We made a few tweaks to make the formulas even better than they were.”
Heiman said Nasonville is committed to using Wisconsin-sourced ingredients, a focus that resonates with customers and reinforces the company’s identity.
He said the dairy’s production capacity and distribution network have also helped expand the product’s reach.
“We are starting as far north as Minocqua and are going further south now,” he said. “The restaurant and bar clients that are buying the cheese curds are asking about our milk and other cheeses, so that’s been interesting.”
Beer-battered cheese curds have long been a Wisconsin staple, but Heiman said growing interest in high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets is also helping fuel demand.
“When we made the tweaks to the formula, we made the batter a little bit thinner,” he said. “People today are all into proteins, so we wanted to focus on that protein base. So, that’s where we’re seeing more of the growth. People think it has to go into deep fryers, but no, it actually works in air fryers quite well.”
Heiman said Nasonville sells its products both nationally and internationally with China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Chile.
Though the new beer-battered curds may not hit Chilean happy hours any time soon, he said domestic demand is likely to stay strong with some grocery store chains expressing interest.
“Sales have grown exponentially, so we’re pleased with the progress,” he said.
Expanding options
Heiman said he expects demand for the curds to continue growing as Nasonville Dairy expands the product line with trending flavors, such as Cajun and dill pickle.
He said the dairy is also broadening its product portfolio in other areas.
“We’re always creating new cheeses, and a lot of the growth for us is happening with Mexican cheeses,” he said, adding that Americans’ desire for spice seems to know no bounds.
What was once considered hot – such as a jalapeño pepper in Nasonville’s early pepper jack – Heiman said, has evolved into demand for bolder varieties like habanero.
“[Then], we went from 300 Scoville heat units to 350,000,” he said. “Now, we have ghost pepper, which takes it up to 1.2 million; scorpion, which is 1.6 million units; and Carolina reaper, which takes it all the way to 2.1 million Scoville units of heat.”
Heiman said feta cheese has also seen growing demand, driven by viral social media recipes, the popularity of the Mediterranean diet and increased interest in foods associated with gut health.
“For quite a number of years, we have done a lot with feta,” he said. “We are one of the bigger producers of feta in the nation. We have some new feta spreads out there that are basically a mixture of feta cheese and cream cheese. It’s just to die for – it’s phenomenal.”
Continuous improvement, growth
Founded in 1885, Heiman said Nasonville Dairy is one of the oldest, continually running dairies in Wisconsin.
He said the dairy has changed hands several times over the years, including ownership by farmer-run cooperatives, before his family acquired it in 1985.
Today, Heiman said he oversees operations with his brothers, Kelvin and Kim.
Facility and infrastructure projects at the dairy, he said, seem to be “going on all the time” – attributing much of the work to industry changes.
Heiman said one recent investment tied to that growth is a $1.25 million cold-milk separator system that will begin operations later this summer.
“The dairy industry has challenged dairy farmers to create milk with higher fats and higher proteins, and the farmers responded,” he said. “The fat content is so high now that cheese may not age as well, so that becomes the cheese plant’s problem. So, for the last year, we’ve been building a new facility to take the fats down.”
Heiman said the dairy plans to open a new raw-milk intake facility this month, an investment that will further support an operation that takes in nearly two million pounds of raw milk from area farms each day.
Other new products recently released by Nasonville Dairy, he said, include Kickin’ Dill Pickle and Cherry Cheesecake Cold Pack Cheese Spreads under its Pine River brand.
For more details, head to nasonvilledairy.com.
