Cold Pack Cheese 101 | Wisconsin’s Ultimate Spreadable Delight

Karl - February 10, 2025

Cold Pack Cheese 101 | Wisconsin’s Ultimate Spreadable Delight

A Wisconsin original; cold pack cheese is a natural, spreadable cheese made without the use of shelf-stable emulsifiers or the addition of heat. It’s perfect for party platters, sandwiches, chip dips, baked potatoes, french fries, and whatever else you could possibly conceive of putting cheese on. It may be one of the most underrated foods of all time. What exactly is cold pack, how is it made, and why does it have such a bold cheese flavor when compared to other spreadable cheeses?

Cold pack was first conceived in none other than Wisconsin’s bar scene as an affordable snack food to be enjoyed by hungry patrons during the height of the Great Depression. Hubert Fassbender invented the product in the late 1920s and it grew in popularity throughout the Midwest as it was perfect for feeding large groups of people in taverns and clubs. This is why it became known as “club cheese”.

Fassbender discovered that cheese could be turned into a creamy, smooth, spreadable product by grinding it and mixing it with other dairy products, seasonings, spices, and alcoholic beverages. The lack of heat or additives meant that the spread would retain its original flavors while getting a boost from the added ingredients. The result was a versatile product that would end up defining an entire product line for the next 100 years.

Just a sample of flavor options:

Regular (cheddar, colby, monterey, swiss, and many more)

If you are looking for cold pack Wisconsin cheeses to try, check out the Dairy Link Curd and Cone Map and filter by “spreads” to find producers offering a variety of cheese spreads and hundreds of different flavors.

Personally, I’ll spread some pimento cold pack between two pieces of white bread and enjoy it just like that; it really is a fantastic Wisconsin-original invention.