In 1948,Terrance Reilly's ambition was to bring his dairy expertise to the Florida market and
provide dairy manufacturers with milk, cream and dairy powders. His business philosophy was simple:
Serve the needs of the customer. Gerald Reilly, Terrance's son had a greater vision of servicing not
only the needs of their customers, but also to seek out the needs of quality Wisconsin cheese and
butter manufacturers and offer them a solution to a segment of their distribution needs.
The vision began to unfold in the early 1970's when Jerry began visiting cheese and butter
manufacturers in Wisconsin. He shared his vision with the family owned artisans of the cheese
making industry. These descendants of immigrants had brought their family heritage of cheesemaking
from Europe and set up shop in the best lands in America for growing quality feed and nurturing
dairy herds. That land was Wisconsin.
Jerry ’s plan was simple. The cheesemaking craftsmen were some of the best in the world at
producing quality cheeses. They wanted to spend their time doing what they do best: the art of
cheesemaking. Jerry wanted to expand upon what he and his father had created in the Southeast
United States: a warehousing and distribution system of highly perishable dairy products. And,
he wanted to get these fabulous Wisconsin dairy products to the foodservice markets.
"We had a lot of fun in those decades, working together with the Wisconsin cheesemakers
at their conventions and we created a strong demand for Wisconsin cheese in the Southeast.
Wisconsin cheesemakers have a commitment to excellence and a pride in accomplishment. I
could really relate to that.” recounted Jerry “In fact, due to the superior quality of Wisconsin
cheese and butter, we selected Wisconsin Gold as one of our brand names for our product.” added Jerry.
Reilly Dairy and Food Company continues to bring many of their tractor trailers full of
Wisconsin’s finest to their central distribution center in Florida on a weekly basis. “The
business has become much more complex, yet we try to keep it simple and make it easy for the
Wisconsin manufacturer to access the Southeast, Caribbean and the Americas markets,” says
Jerry of his partnership with the artisans of Wisconsin.
Yes, Reilly Dairy and Food and Wisconsin have a long standing relationship. Yet the
story remains simple: Keep doing what we all know best.
Photos © 2006 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.
