July 11, 2020 – West Bend, WI – If you’ve been in the area for a while, you may be familiar with “the old butter plant” on Pleasant Valley Road in West Bend.
Today the plant is owned by Schreiber and makes something even more delicious – cream cheese. But did you know many other foods and drinks have been produced in the facility throughout the years? The list includes everything from ice cream and fluid milk to soap and bottled water.
Today, our West Bend facility has more than 200 employees (we call ourselves “partners”) who produce delicious cream cheese for food service and retail customers.
Many of our partners, like Carmen Ciriacks, have been with us for decades. That says a lot about the strength and integrity of our company. Carmen joined the company in 1991 when the plant was producing butter and a limited amount of cream cheese.
“We packaged mostly 1-pound blocks of butter that went to the government for surplus and school programs,” Carmen said. “Our scheduling was based on when the cream would arrive, so we never knew when we’d be coming into work.”
With a more stable schedule as part of Schreiber, Carmen was able to earn her bachelor’s degree in accounting through our tuition reimbursement program.
Carmen says one of the biggest changes throughout the years is the emphasis Schreiber has put on the safety of its food and people.
“Safety is definitely a high priority,” Carmen said. “There’s more guarding on the machines, and we follow a lot of processes to make sure the food we make is safe for people to eat.”
Although big in size with more than 8,000 partners around the world, Schreiber still manages to have that family feel.
“I’ve always felt good about being here,” Carmen said. “They take care of their partners, and we’re active in the community, too. We have a Partners Helping Partners program where we raise money to take care of each other if someone is going through a hard time. I’ve always said, if we stay with the company long enough, we’re all going to need it.”
If you’d like to be part of our West Bend team, we have some great opportunities for you. We’re currently looking for part- and full-time production workers to join us on day and night shifts.
We offer great benefits starting on day 1, including medical, dental, vision and life insurance; paid time off and holidays in the first year; a 401(k) retirement plan with a 6% company match; and wellness programs.
Learn more about our company and job opportunities at www.schreiberfoods.com/careers and select the West Bend location.
1991 Level Valley Dairy was still owned by Roger n Doug Davinport? It also had melters for the 68pd blocks of butter from Government storage,trucked in, melted,filtered/purified, and put in 55gal drums ,butter oil, no refridgeration needed. FOR OUR TROOPS over seas mainly. Cream cheese , yes, butter yes, 1/4 pd sticks, print room we called it. How about the evaporated room for bagging powdered whey? The list goes on, Brings back memories, lots os memories, and the Level Valley Dairy truckers were awesum, I cant remember them all, faces mainly, Clarence Fechter was one, Dan Lauter comes to mind. I.ll close here. Thanks for the memories.
The guy who taught them how to make cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk about 1984