Steve
Dairy Ingredient Specialist | Senior Cheese Technologist
I was taught to never stop learning, never stop garnering resources to make yourself better, and never give an answer if you’re not 100% sure. If you don't know, you don't know. But DO find the answer.
With nearly 50 years of seasoning in the food processing industry, Steve brings a one-of-a-kind mix of skillset and expertise to Nelson-Jameson.
In his role as Technical Sales Manager, Steve leverages that robust experience to work with customers who use ingredients from Nelson-Jameson to ensure they are used to make the best fermented dairy and cheese products possible.
More specifically, Steve helps customers apply the ingredients in the proper groupings to ensure they get the best results in quality, yield, flavor, body, and texture. And as Steve notes “With increased customer demand for shelf-life, unique flavor profiles, and conversion in many forms, there is an increased need for creating ingredient blends and process procedures to get the final product to its goal.”
Steve has had these honors, among others, in his career:
- Two terms as a board member for the Wisconsin Master Cheesemakers Program (with the Center for Dairy Research and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin)
- Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association member
- Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (former board member and contest judge)
- New York State Cheese Manufacturers Association contest judge
- American Cheese Society contest judge
In his career, Steve has served as a Product Line Manager and Plant General Manager. He has served as Senior Cheese Technologist and held sales and management roles with Nelson-Jameson.
Steve has taught cheese classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, South Dakota State University, the University of Vermont, the French Institute in Poligny, France, and the Dairy Research Institute in Lugo, Spain.
Steve has also appeared in many industry publications. However, Steve says that he’ll always be a student as well as a teacher.
Authored by Steve Funk
A Mentorship Memoir: Inspiring the Next Generation of Cheesemakers
How Cultures & Enzymes Move the Dairy Industry Forward
Read more from Steve and other dairy experts:
Cheese Ingredients Ignite Excitement
Say Cheese: Report Reveals Biggest Cheese-loving Nations
Creating the Perfect Cultured Dairy Products
Honorable mentions: