Decatur Dairy's Steve Stettler To Receive 2016 WCMA Life Member Award

Steve Stettler, a third-generation cheese maker and a Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker, will be honored April 14, 2016, with the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association’s (WCMA) Life Member Award.
The WCMA has offered this award, its highest honor for service to the Association, since 1918. Stettler will be the 84th life member selected by the WCMA.
The Life Member Award will be presented during the International Cheese Technology Expo (ICTE) Awards Banquet in Milwaukee, WI.
Stettler is currently president of Decatur Dairy Inc. in Brodhead, WI, and manages the Decatur Swiss Cheese Cooperative.
Stettler has served two six-year terms on the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association’s Board of Directors and was elected to numerous officer positions, including President in 2000 and 2001 and again in 2014.
Stettler is a long-time member of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association’s cheese contest committee and technology committee and, along with his family, are dedicated volunteers on the World and United States Championship Cheese Contest B-Team.
Stettler has also served on the board of the Southwest Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and was President for two years.
Steve Stettler now serves as President of the Foreign Type Cheesemakers Association Laboratory, President of the National Historic Cheesemaking Center in Monroe, WI, and serves on the Green County Board for Decatur township.
He holds Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker certifications in Havarti, Muenster, Farmer Cheese, specialty Swiss, Brick Cheese and Cheddar.
“The Life Member Award is really quite an honor and when I think about all the industry people that have received this before me, it is quite humbling,” Stettler commented. “Being part of this Association is actually kind of amazing — the people you meet, the issues you are exposed to and the knowledge you gain.”
“I have to share this award with my family, as my wife Glennette (George) and my daughters, Shaya and Sierra, have helped our business grow to where it is today, and are strong supporters of the Association,” Steve Stettler continued. “The time I have spent with WCMA, whether in meetings or helping out at cheese contests, has helped me become a better cheesemaker.”
Stettler grew up in the cheesemaking business at his family’s cheese factory, Farmers Grove, in New Glarus, WI.
At an early age, Steve started helping out at the factory, guided by his parents, Roy and Virginia Stettler, and worked alongside his brothers.
In 1973, Roy and Virginia sold their equipment at Farmers Grove and moved to Decatur Swiss Cheese Cooperative in Brodhead.
While attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Steve accepted an offer to buy into the family business and ultimately he and his wife, Glennette, purchased his father’s entire interest and moved in above the factory, where they still reside today.
In 1982, Steve and Glennette formed Decatur Dairy Inc. to operate and manage the business for the cooperative.
The Stettlers started to market their cheese products for the co-op and expanded sales.
Decatur Dairy outgrew its plant capacity by the late 1990s and a new manufacturing, packaging, cooler and office area were built. In 2010, Decatur Dairy executed another expansion, gaining a larger brine room, receiving room and packaging area.
The small retail store at Decatur Dairy in Brodhead, WI, was expanded to a full-service store with sandwiches, fresh curds and dozens of cheese varieties cut from the block for customers.
Other recent Life Member Award winners include last year’s winner, Fred Laack, DuPont Cheese Factory; Ron Buholzer, Klondike Cheese Company; Ericco Auricchio, BelGioioso Cheese, Inc.; Mike Moran, Wisconsin Dairy State Cheese Company; Brian Eggebrecht, Welcome Dairy Inc., and Dick Baker, Baker Cheese Factory.