History of Springside Cheese Corporation

Rich in the tradition of Wisconsin cheese making, Springside Cheese carries on a family legacy of producing the finest, hand-milled, hand-crafted natural cheeses.

It’s no secret that cheese making has a long history in Wisconsin.  Once the wheat industry lost its economic luster in the mid-1850s, cheese became Wisconsin’s next lucrative endeavor.  Once a simple and sensible means to preserve milk, neighborhood cheese makers began branching out, not only providing cheese to much of the state, country, and in some cases world, but also in invoking the beginnings of cheese making as an art.

Wisconsin’s cheese makers perfected the art of making cheese, regulated dairy farms and cheese factories and became the only state to license its cheese makers.  A flavorful mixture of heritages joined together in Wisconsin, joining, too, their legacies of cheese making from abroad, including cheeses from Poland, England, France, Italy and Germany. 

Northeastern Wisconsin is no stranger to these quarter century old traditions of making cheese.  Springside Cheese had its own beginnings just after the largest waves of European immigration sent settlers Wisconsin’s way.  Springside Cheese’s first factory was founded a midst the rolling hills and valleys north of Green Bay, near a local fresh spring, hence its namesake, in the year 1903 and has been producing natural, hand-crafted cheeses ever since.

Seventy years after its opening, the history held in Springside Cheese’s walls was married to the heartfelt passion of cheese maker Wayne Hintz.  The marriage of legacy and passion gave birth to a new generation of cheese making.  Hintz was the son of dairy farmer, the late Alfred Hintz, and nobody was surprised when he followed his dreams of making a living in agriculture, following in the footsteps of his father and future father-in-law.  His father’s homestead dairy, a farm he built with his bare hands, is owned and operated by his brother, Dennis Hintz, and provides Springside Cheese with its fresh, rGBh-free milk to this day.

Hintz’s former father-in-law, the late Eugene Winter, was one of five brothers who lived and breathed the art of hand-crafting cheese, a craft learned from their father.  Each owned and ran his own cheese factory.  During a time Hintz refers to as “the romantic period” of cheese, a time when cheese makers were revered and Wisconsin’s pride in cheese making was apparent from the wealth of family-owned cheese factories--one on every corner--,he learned the trade from the Winter family.  He combined his upbringing in rearing cattle and producing quality milk with the art of milk preservation—creating high quality, rich and flavorful Wisconsin cheese. 

After over a decade of studying the art of cheese making and acquiring his license, Hintz bought his own small factory—Springside Cheese—in the fall of 1973.  He spent the early years dedicating his time to producing only the finest Cheddar cheese—which later became an award-winning cheese--and expanding his factory and cheese store.  Now, forty years later, he’s won several cheese making awards, both nationally and internationally, for his semi-hard Bandaged Cheddar and White Cheddar.  His “squeaky” cheese curds are famously craved throughout the country, especially now that Springside has an online store, allowing consumers to buy its cheese nationwide.  In addition to the cheese store attached to the factory in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, Springside Cheese Corporation opened stores in Stiles, Wisconsin, and most recently, in Pueblo, Colorado.

Making cheese has always been, and continues to be, a family tradition at Springside Cheese.  The legacy of the Hintz family’s long tradition and passion for cheese making continues with a fourth generation as Hintz’s two eldest sons join Springside Cheese to learn the trade, to share in the passion that is cheese making. 

As Springside Cheese enters a new generation, it will remain one of Northeast Wisconsin’s longest running factories, and the quality and taste you’ve come to expect will continue for years to come.  In addition, Springside Cheese looks forward to creating and introducing an exquisite line of artisan cheeses.  Making cheese is our family tradition.  Make serving it yours.