Great Lakes Cheese Co Inc.

Great Lakes Cheese Co Inc., headquartered in Hiram, Ohio, is a for-profit manufacturer of cheese products organized as a Subchapter S Corporation. The company operates as a major supplier of natural and processed cheese commodities to the federal government, with production and packaging facilities located across multiple states including Wisconsin, Utah, New York, and Tennessee. Through its extensive portfolio of federal contracts and indefinite delivery vehicles, Great Lakes Cheese has established itself as a significant vendor for domestic food assistance programs, supplying various cheese products to support nutrition initiatives nationwide.

Great Lakes Cheese has been awarded over 100 prime federal contract awards since 2019, primarily from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service and Agricultural Marketing Service. The company supplies a diverse range of cheese products including processed regular low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese in 5-pound packages, cheddar cheese chunks and shreds in various package sizes (ranging from 12/1 lb to 12/2 lb packages), reduced-fat yellow shredded cheese in 6/5 lb bags, natural Swiss cheese in slices and blocks, and white and yellow cheddar shreds. Additionally, the company has been awarded contracts for canned fruit commodities including canned peaches, mixed fruit, and diced pears to support USG food donation programs. The contract awards are structured as both definitive contracts with firm fixed-price or fixed-price with economic price adjustment terms, and delivery orders issued under larger indefinite delivery vehicles. Award values have ranged from approximately $80,000 to over $17 million for individual contracts. All contract awards to Great Lakes Cheese have been made without set-aside designations, reflecting the company's ability to compete effectively in open federal procurement processes. Performance locations for these contracts span multiple Great Lakes Cheese facilities in La Crosse and Plymouth, Wisconsin; Fillmore, Utah; Cuba, New York; Manchester, Tennessee; and Hiram, Ohio, with delivery orders issued primarily through the USDA's Commodities for USG Food Donations program.

Great Lakes Cheese Co Inc. currently holds eight indefinite delivery contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with ceiling values ranging from approximately $753,408 to $16,000,000, providing substantial contracting capacity for the agency's ongoing cheese procurement needs. These IDVs were awarded by both the Food and Nutrition Service and the Agricultural Marketing Service Washington Office, with performance periods extending through 2024 and 2025. Under these IDVs, the USDA has issued hundreds of delivery orders to Great Lakes Cheese for processed cheese, cheddar chunks, shredded cheese varieties, and specialty dairy products, with individual delivery order values ranging from $80,000 to over $11 million. The most recently awarded IDV, effective through December 31, 2025, has a ceiling value of $2,600,000 and covers processed regular low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, cheddar chunks and shreds, and natural Swiss cheese to support the National School Lunch Program and food bank distributions. Earlier IDVs, awarded between 2021 and 2023, have served similar purposes with ceiling values between $753,408 and $16,000,000, enabling flexible procurement of large quantities of dairy products. These multiple-award indefinite delivery vehicles allow the USDA to issue task orders as needed to meet cheese commodity requirements for domestic food assistance initiatives, with all orders structured under fixed-price or fixed-price with economic price adjustment arrangements and delivered to locations throughout the United States.