Cheese Makers
Quality cheese starts with quality cheese makers. Jim Scray grew up watching his grandpa and father create quality cheese under difficult circumstances. When 14, Jim started helping his father after school and during the summer. With thoughts of taking over the family business, Jim worked on getting his cheese maker license in 1980. He decided to continue the family tradition of cheese making by taking over the factory in 1982. He continued on to receive his pasteurization license in 1989. Throughout the years, Jim has been the first to arrive at the factory, preparing for the day. He begins with chlorinating the vats and presses, starting up the boiler and pasteurizer, and getting the vats ready. Throughout the day, Jim oversees all operations, with an emphasis on the manufacturing of the cheese. He helps with the process of cutting the vats, adding the cultures, enzymes, and color, and pressing the cheese. Jim sets the pace and quality standards for Scray Cheese and continues to share his knowledge with his son, Ryan.
Like Jim, Ryan grew up watching his grandpa and father hard at work in the factory. At the age of 15, Ryan entered the cheese making world by waxing and packaging cheese, cleaning and taking apart the whey separator and also helped with the end of day cleaning. After receiving his business degree at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Ryan worked on obtaining a cheese maker and pasteurizer license in April of 2009. Once completed, he started working at Scray Cheese full time as the secondary cheese maker, following his father’s footsteps. Ryan is a truly versatile cheese maker, helping manage the packaging side of the business while still working on the vats in the manufacturing area. His main focus is on calculating quantities needed in the manufacturing area, filling customer orders, managing the separator, and quality control throughout the cheese making process. While Jim is the first to arrive, Ryan is the last to leave. You will always find a Scray at Scray Cheese!