Saturday, March 2, 2013

Frigo Cheese Corp. - The Story of the Great Man who Ran It


hankstruckpictures.com

With all the mob related posts I've written lately concerning the Italian American community, I thought it was about time for a story of a great Italian American businessman and leader.
In 1981, I obtained a job as a truck driver at the Frigo Cheese Company in Lena, Wi and it enabled me to make the move from Milwaukee to Crivitz. The President of the company was Leo Frigo and, unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet him. I was only there for a short time before he retired in 1983. I never heard one person bad mouth him while he was there and didn't find out what a great guy he was until after he left. Below is a biography of him by Paul’s Pantry, a non-profit he started in Green Bay after he retired. Today, it is one the largest food pantry programs [Paul's Pantry] in the nation for feeding the hungry!
https://dbridgerhot.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-kenworths-t600-truck-that-pioneered.html
My 1990 Kenworth T600

Leo Frigo was born into a large Italian-American family who at the time were living in Pound Wisconsin. He was the thirteenth of sixteen children, nine sons and seven daughters of Pasquale and Camilla Frigo.
Pasquale Frigo, his father, was born in Italy and came to the United States with $50 in his pocket and the dream of opening a cheese factory. His mother assisted him in this dream and he opened the Frigo Cheese Factory in Wisconsin. Both of his parents possessed a strong faith, which they passed along to their children. In her oral history, S. Pasqualine noted that her mother always taught her children to trust in divine providence.
When he was five years old he enrolled in Guardian Angels Boarding School in Oneida. Several of his older brothers and sisters were also students there. He loved the woods in Oneida and sometimes played cowboys and Indians with the Oneida children, ending up tied to a tree when the Indians won!
His four years of high school were spent in De Pere at another boarding school, St. Norbert High School. There Leo made many lifelong friends and seriously considered a religious vocation. In fact, his sister, sister marie pasqualine frigo spent her life as a Catholic nun, working with children.
After graduating as Salutatorian of his class, he entered the Franciscan order in New York and after a few months entered the Trappist Order in Dubuque Iowa. After less than a year he decided a meatless diet was not for him, so he returned home and worked in the family business. When Uncle Sam came calling Leo entered the U.S. Army and served in the Searchlight Division in Korea.
Using the G.I. Bill, he became a student in the Dairy Science Department at Iowa State University, Ames where he met and married fellow student Fran Chapman. After graduation from ISU it was back to Frigo Cheese where his first managerial position was as plant manager at Carney Milk Products, Carney Michigan. After six years as a "UPer" he and Fran took their growing family of four daughters to Lena WI where he became the Corporate Production Manager and Treasurer. He and his brothers expanded the business into South Dakota and he traveled to the Dakotas by car every other week for two years, many times picking up hitchhikers of dubious character. Like his father before him, he was never afraid to give a helping hand to those in need.
Leo retired as President of Frigo Cheese Corporation in 1983 at the age of 52. He wished to devote the remainder of his life to apostolic work and had been preparing for that mission before retirement by joining the St. Vincent de Paul Society. His first few months of retirement were spent assisting parolees, taking them on job interviews and assisting in their rehabilitation. The director of a local halfway house, Arlene Conant, suggested to Leo that the biggest problems ex-convicts faced was finding a job and supporting themselves. They sometimes resorted to stealing to have enough food. Arlene took Leo to St. Joseph Food Pantry in Appleton and it is here that Leo conceived the idea of beginning a food pantry in Green Bay.
Leo Frigo at Paul's Pantry

Obtaining space in a corner of the former St. Vincent de Paul store on Webster Court, now renamed Leo Frigo Way, Leo organized meetings of volunteers through the churches of all denominations. He visited all the local grocery stores begging for their surplus unsaleable food, even going as far as jumping into the dumpsters to retrieve food when it was denied. Leo used to say,

"Its better that I go into the dumpster rather than making the poor go there, at the end of the day my dignity will be intact and so will theirs." 

Leo passed away on February 13, 2001 from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was delivering food to a shut in.
Pictured below is the Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge. After Leo's death, the Tower Drive Bridge in Green Bay was renamed in his honor. Leo spent his life building a bridge between the "have's" and "have not's."
http://www.paulspantry.org/our-founder

Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge, Green Bay , WI

Future of the Cheese Plant
I moved to Salt Lake City in 1993 and in January, 1996, a major fire broke out in the plant and destroyed it. At the time, it was owned by Stella Foods. Because of a major commitment by the community and state of Wisconsin, the plant was rebuilt and today is owned by Saputo Cheese, a Canadian based company. Following from the Chicago Tribune:

LENA, WISCONSIN — A fire at a cheese factory that forms the financial backbone of the community forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes Saturday--and fear for their livelihoods. The fire, detected just before midnight, raged for hours, spewing thick black smoke and noxious fumes across this community of 600 in Wisconsin's far northeast corner, witnesses said. The Stella Foods Inc. plant, known locally by its former name, Frigo Cheese Co., was destroyed, Mayor Ed Patenaude said. No one was injured in the blaze or during the evacuation in near-zero temperatures. The noxious fumes were created by an ammonia leak at the plant, said Pat LeBreck, the county's emergency government director. The cause of the fire hasn't been determined, but Stella Foods already has made provisions for rerouting its milk deliveries to six other cheese-producing facilities and other producers in Wisconsin, a spokesman said. Stella Foods Inc., based in Green Bay, is the fourth-largest U.S. cheese producer. It bought the Frigo plant in 1992 from Frigo Foods Inc. of Green Bay. The company sells ricotta, Parmesan and Romano cheeses under the Stella, Frigo and other labels. Stella Foods is a unit of Specialty Foods Corp. in Lincolnshire, Ill.
Chicago Tribune Article



25 comments:

  1. Would like too know if they had a start in Florence WI?

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    1. The father of the Frigo brothers started the company in Iron Mountain in 1939.

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    2. Luigi and Pasquale Frigo started the Frigo Brothers Cheese, Corp. Pasquale was Leo's father. The plant in Florence was one of their first cheese factories. It was unique in that the milk intake (cans), cheese vats, and whey tanks allowed fluids to flow by gravity alone & pumps were not required in the cheese making process.

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  2. Hi there was a Frigo cheese Factory in Florence for years! DNR didn’t want the disposal of the whey near Fisher Creek! Factory closed and devastated many dairy farmers for years!

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    1. Thanks for the comment! I started working at Frigo in 1981 and remember hearing about the Florence plant. I was never there, they have closed up right around that time. They also had plants in Crystal Falls, Iron Mountain and Carney, Mi. I was at all three of those before they closed 'em up.

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    2. Originally, the main office and warehouse was in Iron Mountain, Michigan. There were cheese factories over the years in Florence, Wausaukee, Pound, Lena, Carney, MI, Wyocena (blue cheese), Simco, Big Stone City, SD, with packaging operations in Crystal Falls, MI and Crivitz, WI. The main office moved to Lena, WI eventually occupying the former bowling alley across the street from the factory.

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    3. Thanks for the great info! I didn’t know they has plants in Wausaukee and Pound. I been to Big Stone City, Crystal Falls, Wyocena, Carney and Symco. You know Frigo history very well! Thanks and feel free to contact me at dbridgerhot@gmail.com any time.

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    4. It was so chicken of the DNR to help the farmers control the waste. Farmers forgive but don’t forget!

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  3. Did they own the Frigo Cheese plant in Wyocena, WI? Now the Grande Cheese plant?

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    1. Yes, Frigo owned the Wyocena plant which produced Blue cheese. I went to that plant many times. Grande was never affiliated with Frigo Cheese. I thought Frigo closed the Wyocena plant, but may have sold it to Grande, if it's still there. Thanks for your comment!

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  4. Pasquale Frigo was married to Camilla Rocheleau, whose parents, Camille Rocheleau and Lumina Poitras, came from the parish of St-Côme, Quebec, Canada, to settle in Coleman, Wisconsin. From there, they made their life and had four children, including Camilla. She married Pasquale in the early 1920s, after his arrival with his four brothers from Italy. It is mentioned in the obituary of Antonio J. Tony Frigo, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Frigo at the time, that he only spoke French and Italian in his youth. A tasty anecdote followed: “When he started primary school, the teacher sent Tony home because he only spoke Italian and French. Pasquale brought Tony back the next day and told the teacher that it was her job to teach him English, which she eventually did. Catholics had to send their children to Catholic school if possible, so Tony eventually went to Guardian Angels boarding school in Oneida, Wisconsin.” Note to the editor: No information on the Frigo family’s acquaintance with the mafia.

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    1. Thank you so much for your contribution! I am the editor/publisher and I have never assumed, accused or in any way thought that the Frigo family was ever associated with the mafia!

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    2. Thank you also for your quick response! I understand your point of view very well and everything is ok! I just wanted to note that the title of this blog and the Frigo family had no connection to my knowledge. But I don’t know anyone from the descendants of these people living today. Their ancestors who died a long time ago are partly from my family on the side of Camilla Rocheleau to Pasquale. I have beautiful photos of these people apart from Pasquale that I would love to see with my own eyes! They are builders who have left their marks, but who have also made very large families. Pasquale and Camilla had 16 children. Thank you again for letting me express myself on your site. See you soon!”

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  5. Leo is Tony's younger brother

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    1. Another interesting fact I was thinking, After Frigo Cheese was sold in the early 1980's it changed ownership to Stella Foods before eventually being bought and currently owned by Saputo Cheese, a Canadian owned company. Saputo did have some mob history back in the day. They had connections to the Bonano Crime family of New York.

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  6. Yes my Family sold milk to the Florence Wisc Frigo Cheese factory! Closed because of the spill issue and every dairy farm in Florence wisc died out. To much money to ship to other factories. The last milk check from Frigo taken and she owned the shipping company $60 for transportation. She sold the herd of beautiful Holsteins to a farmer in Minn. SAD! I still remember the big vats of cheese in the factory! Mr. Bernarski was our milkman. Always a chunk of cheese at Christmas left in the milk wrapped from the factory. We loved it and it was delicious.

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  7. Hi there im here with Paul T. Frigo the son of Camilla Rocheleau & Pasquale. We were googling the business and came across this. It brought back many many memories and made his day ☺️

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    1. So, if I understand correctly, Paul T. Frigo is a brother of Leo Frigo? I googled and see a Paul T. Frigo, who is about 93 years old living in Nevada? So glad to hear from you and thanks so much for commenting. I'd love to hear more of the family history! You can reach me privately at dbridgerhot@gmail.com. Take care and thanks!

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  8. Yes Leo is his brother and he's here in nv

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  9. I grew up with their Romano Cheese in and on everything. Several years back Publix Grocery here in Florida stopped carrying it. Now in my early 40's and having never existed without this product I've been at a loss. For a while I was able to special order it, but a couple of months ago after writing the company they said they discontinued the Romano!

    For several years now I've been trying to find a suitable Vacchino Romano replacement. As i contemplate my cheese quandary I was suddenly curious as to the history of the company. Thanks for sharing this info. It's nice to know a little about this guy who had such a huge daily impact on my food for so many years of my life and it's nice to see he was such a respectable figure in the community.

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    1. Thanks for your comment! I didn’t realize that Romano is difficult to get now? Frigo had a plant in Big Stone City, SD that produced only the hard cheese Parmesan and Romano. I think the parmesan was aged 4 months and Romano at least 10 months. I believe the plant is still there, now part of Saputo Cheese. I don't know if it's still a hard cheese producer, that was many years ago in the 1990's that I drove for Frigo. If I find any info I'll pass it on. You can reach me privately at my email dbridgerhot@gmail.com. Thanks!

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  10. Rob Newell... but I have Romano blood, as well as Ferraro, Campagna, and D'Antonio.

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    1. I found this news article this morning about Saputo closing the Big Stone City, SD plant permanently this year: https://thevalleyexpress.com/2023/02/07/saputo-to-permanently-close-big-stone-city-plant/

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    2. I also found on a current web site for Frigo Cheese (Saputo) that they still list a Romano cheese: https://www.frigocheese.com/en/products/romano

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