Innovation: Our Products

Innovation isn’t just one of our Sargento cultural tenets, it’s part of who we are and who we’ve always been as a company.

The mindset traces back to our founder, Leonard Gentine, and a simple observation that began a legacy. In early 1949, Leonard noticed an untapped market for Italian-style cheeses like Mozzarella and Provolone. To bring those cheeses to consumers, he started a gift box cheese business in the carriage house of his funeral home in Plymouth — and sold more than 5,000 gift boxes in his first year.

More than 70 years later, that same winning spirit continues to guide us.

This year, Sargento was named to Fast Company’s 2026 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, earning a top 3 ranking in the food category.

This global recognition reflects our legacy of innovative products and highlights our culture where innovation lives across every function, every facility, and every shift.

“I would tell Fast Company that you couldn’t have made a better selection. I see it as a recognition of our total organizational commitment to innovation and to the entirety of the Sargento Family, because we know that’s what it takes to be successful,” said Rod Hogan, Senior Vice President – Innovation at Sargento. “New products are not easy, and you have to push through the challenges. When you get the wins, it feels good.”

Leonard’s original insight wasn’t just about cheese, but about listening to consumers and creating innovative products to fit their needs. Over the decades, that same thinking has driven countless “firsts” and category-shaping ideas, from helping pioneer shredded cheese to introducing “Ultra Thin” sliced cheese that changed how people ate sandwiches at home.

That focus to rethink the familiar is still at the heart of how we innovate today. A catalyst for the Fast Company award was the launch of our Sargento^® Natural American Cheese, a product 10-years in the making that started with the basic idea: “What if we could create a natural cheese, but make it have the taste, texture and melt of processed cheese.”

“Natural American really got off the ground 10 years ago when we invested in collaboration with industry experts to focus on two main workstreams: We were working on flavor development, and we were working on delivering melt,” said John Rodgers, VP - Research & Development at Sargento. “Experts from across the globe helped us review cultures, explore dairy chemistry, and processing technologies that to go into cheese making to create a unique method that could deliver the texture and flavor we were looking for.”

That partnership helped lay the groundwork for future research and development at our pilot plant in Elkhart Lake before scaling the product up for commercialization. The trailblazing final product reimagined a 100-year-old staple by delivering a familiar taste, texture, and melt, but made with only five ingredients and 100% natural cheese.

The result of years of research and cross-functional teamwork, Sargento^® Natural American Cheese shows what’s possible when we challenge conventions while staying true to our values.

“As I reflect on how we were able to arrive where we are at today, it comes down to having a great team,” John said. “Not only a great team within R&D, but across the board. If you look at Louie Gentine and his CEO staff, they are a great team that saw an opportunity, believed in the opportunity and kept saying ‘Keep going.’”

That approach of listening to the consumer and developing innovative products that solve their needs while staying true to real, natural cheese has driven multiple successes over the years.

In recent years, it's shown up in products like Sargento^® Balanced Breaks^®, which bring together real cheese with complementary snacks to meet the growing demand for convenient, balanced options.

“The true power of Balanced Breaks was listening to the customer, understanding their need, and then giving them the product they really wanted,” Rod said. “We listened to consumers and gave them a snack option they could enjoy and feel good about eating. It was about balancing great taste with wholesome, real food.”

We’ve also continued to push boundaries with flavored and seasoned shreds, including taco-seasoned varieties and spicy shreds that brought new convenience and flavor to everyday meals.

Focusing on those consumer trends continues this year with the launch of spicy slices and Sargento Mighty Bites™, an innovative product that brings Sargento to the meat case for the first time.

“We are a third-generation, family-owned company that is committed to innovation, and it drives us day in and day out across all elements of the business,” Rod said.

That innovative spirit is central to both our Consumer Product and Food Service & Ingredients business units. FSI partners with food service customers and other food manufacturers to bring new, innovative ideas to their businesses.

"In FSI, our brand identity is centered on Quality, Service, and Innovation – that’s what we bring to the party and it’s how we differentiate ourselves from others,” Rod said. “We deliver higher quality products, we deliver incredible service, and we bring our customers innovative ideas and products. It’s central to who we are and a unique way we partner in the success of our customers.”

Innovation at Sargento isn’t owned by a single department. It’s a shared responsibility that comes to life through our values of People, Pride, and Progress. From research and development to operations, supply chain, sales, and production, innovation happens because people across the Sargento Family ask better questions, test new ideas, and look for smarter ways to serve our customers and consumers.

That’s how a company that started with 5,000 cheese gift boxes continues to deliver new ideas year after year — and why innovative products will help drive our long-term growth.