Daniel J. Carter

Widely regarded as the driving force behind the creation of the U.S. specialty cheese industry, Daniel Joseph Carter was born in 1930 in Wisconsin. In 1958 Dan began his cheese marketing career when he sold his first case of cheese in Washington, D.C. for the Purity Cheese Company based in Mayville, WI. He continued with Purity Cheese as Vice President of Sales until 1975, when he and his wife Jane co-founded Dan Carter, Inc., a consulting and sales company to promote small- to medium-sized cheese factories and Dan served as corporate CEO until 2003.

The following April, Dan met with U.S. Senator Herb Kohl. An appropriations bill was established to give $2 million per year to reposition and invigorate Wisconsin dairy and specialty cheese production. Dan served as manager of the Dairy Business Innovation Center, which helped create 37 new dairy plants and enabled 52 existing plant expansions during the eight-year grant period.

Dan served as Chair of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (now SFA) from 1972 –1973. He was recognized as a Master Connoisseur of French Gastronomy in 1972, received the International Dairy Deli Bakery’s “President Award”, and was included in the inaugural class of the SFA Hall of Fame.