The Family-Run Company Behind Culver's Iconic Cheese Curds

There may be over 1,000 Culver's locations across the United States, but the big-name fast food brand hasn't forgotten its small-town roots. From Florida to Idaho, Culver's proudly uses Wisconsin suppliers to bring a taste of the Midwest across the country. Its cheese curds, of which Culver's sells millions per year, are made by La Grander's Hillside Dairy, a family-run company located in Stanley, Wisconsin.

As of 2022, La Grander's estimated it supplied over 7 million pounds of curds per year to Culver's restaurants, accounting for about a quarter of its total curd-selling business, according to an interview with WEAU. When Tasting Table ranked 11 of Culver's sides, the cheese curds came out on top, so it's clear that the restaurant chain knows a great deal about making some good sides. La Grander's has been owned and operated by the La Grander family for three generations, and a Master Cheesemaker ensures that every curd that leaves the facility for Culver's and beyond is inspected for tangy, cheesy perfection, which is part of what makes this regional snack the embodiment of true Wisconsin flavors.

La Grander's Hillside Dairy started in Wisconsin in 1916, survived a massive fire in 1925, the expansion of modern dairy production methods, and a massive uptick in demand to get to where it is today. When Culver's executives went searching for a supplier of frozen cheese curds, La Grander's caught their attention. The family-run brand began supplying its famous cheese curds to Culver's in the late 1990s, when the fast food chain first added the side to its menus. La Grander's is responsible for sourcing the dairy, draining and shaping the product into curds, freezing and packing the curds, then sending them off to another supplier for breading before they end up at Culver's restaurants.

While some customers think Culver's cheese curds are actually one of the worst sides, there's no denying the vast popularity of the little deep-fried suckers. Culver's even created National Cheese Curd Day in 2015 to celebrate the success of its cheesy side, an annual tradition that entails sweepstakes and social media festivities. The restaurant encourages customers to pile its cheese curds on its ButterBurgers for even more flavor, but we like to make Culver's Wisconsin cheese curds 10x better by ordering a cup of George's Chili with cheddar cheese sauce on the side, then asking for an empty takeout container to mix all three items together. It's a fast food hack that's only possible thanks to Culver's long-established partnership with La Grander's.