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The Big Cheese

Q&A

Joseph Gellert, president and owner of World’s Best Cheeses, talks about driving tractors, best-selling brands and changing the company name from Cheezwhse.

by Susan Segrest

When did you begin in the food business?

I grew up on a chicken farm in upstate New York. I’m not sure how old I was when I started to work there, but I did drive a tractor when I was five.

Do you have a favorite cheese?

All 2,500 cheeses are my “children” and I love them equally. However, I do have a weakness for Epoisses and white Burgundy wine. I never get sick of eating cheese.

How has your company changed in recent years?

In March 2010, we acquired Crystal Food Imports. Cheezwhse (our company’s former name) has been always known for its next-day distribution skills and we upgraded Crystal’s ability to deliver quality products as well. This upgrade included everything from creating a cheese cave to hiring new employees to buying new trucks. On the sales side, Crystal remains unchanged as a separate division, though it now has a new sales office.

Strategically this has been a good move. We have expanded our sales area into New England. In terms of product range Crystal has always been the “Rolls-Royce” of imported cheese, thus we are now in the upper tier.

Currently, we are “rebranding,” as we are switching our name to World’s Best Cheeses from Cheezwhse. We are upgrading our website and expanding other marketing activities. Also, as always, we are constantly on the lookout for new items and trends.

What are some of your best-selling products and where do they come from?

We do well with cheeses where we have an exclusive. This includes Luigi Guffanti (Italy), Rolf Beeler and the Caroline Hostettler Selections (both from Switzerland) and Meredith Dairy (Australia).

What is the most interesting culinary experience you’ve had recently?

My son and I attended a La Tâche wine tasting luncheon at Daniel. This included 19 vintages of La Tâche from 1982 to 2005. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.

Have you had any surprising successes?

No surprises, really. We seem to keep swinging all the time. Sometimes you get a home run, sometimes not. Many years ago when Alpine Lace was first introduced, a reporter inquired about its taste. I said I didn’t like it. It only became one of the biggest successes in the deli case.

If you knew it was going to be your last meal, would you eat cheese?

Yes. I’d get steak and all the trimmings from Peter Luger’s and I would have my cheese before the tomatoes and onions.|SFM|

Susan Segrest is a contributing editor to Specialty Food Magazine.

This article was featured in the June 2011 issue of Specialty Food Magazine.
See other articles in this issue here: June 2011 Specialty Food Magazine.