Montchevre was founded in 1988 by Michel Betin, Jacqueline Brassier, Arnaud Solandt and Jean Rossard as a goat cheese manufacturer with sales divided equally between retail and food service, the cheese company said.
“The decision to proceed with the sale of the company we’ve built is not a selfish one,” Montchevre co-founder, Solandt, said at the time the deal was announced.
“It is based on the conviction that this alliance will provide a stronger, more secure market for our 500+ milk producers and will help propel Montchevre to new heights.”
The transaction will enable the cheese division of Saputo to broaden its presence in specialty cheese in the US. Saputo currently distributes and sells cheese products in the US under brand names such as Saputo, Alexis de Portneuf, Armstrong, COON, Cracker Barrel, Dairyland, DairyStar, Friendship Dairies, Frigo Cheese Heads, La Paulina, and Milk2Go/Lait's Go.
Montchevre will become the flagship of Saputo’s goat cheese division. Rossard will remain the plant manager in Belmont, Wisconsin, and Solandt as a senior advisor, assisting in the development of the division.