Fresh Take: From The Back Of A Funeral Home To America’s Top-Selling Cheese

September always starts with a vengeance, doesn’t it? To kick the month off with something creamy and comforting, I’m serving up a feature on the family behind Sargento cheese.

Turns out, the shredded mozzarella brand popular at grocery stores across the country started 71 years ago in the back of a funeral home in Plymouth, Wisconsin. The winding story of how that cheese eventually made it to supermarkets is a fun tale. Today, some 60 members of the Gentine family own the brand, including Louie Gentine, the CEO and chairman who I interviewed. Enjoy!

— Chloe Sorvino, Staff Writer

Order my book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat, out now from Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books.

This is Forbes’ Fresh Take newsletter, which every Friday brings you the latest on the big ideas changing the future of food. Want to get it in your inbox every week? Sign up here.

What’s Fresh

Meet The Billionaire Family Producing America’s Best-Selling Cheeses

With $1.8 billion in sales, Sargento continues to innovate its top-selling cheddar, mozzarella and string cheeses, all while keeping the company private. And third-generation CEO Louie Gentine has a plan to keep shredding the competition.

The Future Of Food Depends On Paying Workers Fair Wages

This should go without saying: The people who put food on our plates shouldn’t struggle to afford to put food on their own tables.

Why A Price Gouging Ban Isn’t So Crazy After All

During an FTC trial, Kroger executives admitted to raising retail prices higher than the rate cost of inflation. With grocery prices up 30% since 2019, they may have just made the case to ban price gouging.

Eliminating Food Packaging Waste Through Regenerative Agriculture

Better Earth’s CEO discusses how their innovative, compostable packaging reduces greenhouse gas emissions, supports soil health, and sustainability in food services.

Field Notes

Last night at Bar Primi in New York City, I ate pasta after pasta to mark the 100th anniversary of artisanal pasta maker Rustichella d’Abruzzo. With fourth-generation members of the Rustichella family, we shared a perfect pomodoro, triangle-shaped ziti with spicy red shrimp, and a light egg pappardelle with bolognese, among many other bites.

Thanks for reading the 118th edition of Forbes Fresh Take! Let me know what you think. Subscribe to Forbes Fresh Take here.

Chloe Sorvino leads coverage of food and agriculture as a staff writer on the enterprise team at Forbes. Her book, Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat, published on December 6, 2022, with Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books. Her nearly nine years of reporting at Forbes has brought her to In-N-Out Burger’s secret test kitchen, drought-ridden farms in California’s Central Valley, burnt-out national forests logged by a timber billionaire, a century-old slaughterhouse in Omaha and even a chocolate croissant factory designed like a medieval castle in northern France.